Some Kind Of Monster
by archard-winchester
Summary: Beyond anger lies the ungovernable rage, and beyond lies the region where he is a man beside himself, a man without all his normal codes and standards of feeling and thought and emotions. Featuring dark!Sam and darker!Dean. Detailed summary inside.
1. Chapter 1 : Sad But True

**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.

**Summary**: Beyond anger lies fury, the heedless, ungovernable rage of the berserker, and beyond that again, a long, long step beyond the boundary of madness, lies the region of cold and utterly uncaring indifference. When a man enters that region, as few ever do, he is no longer himself, he is a man beside himself, a man without all his normal codes and standards of feeling and thought and emotions, a man for whom words like fear and danger and suffering and exhaustion are words that belong to another world and whose meaning he can no longer comprehend. Dean knew if he stepped into that part of himself, he might never step back again.

**A/N**: The summary is taken from a novel. I think Dean has come to that point many times in his life and made it back safely. This is a story where he doesn't make it back.

* * *

**Chapter 1. Sad But True**

He had been here before, in this motel hallway with oddly colored wallpaper, Dean realized. In a different age or time, but he had definitely been here before. He could remember seeing the slightly ajar door with the light of a lamp shining through and he dreaded finding out what lay behind it.

"How long are you just gonna stand there?" A familiar voice called from behind the door.

Dean took a deep breath and marched in. Yes, he had definitely been here, Dean thought as he looked around the familiar room and it's even more familiar occupant. But things were different this time around. The man was no longer turned towards the wall, flicking the table-lamp on and off. Instead he was tied to the chair with chains- big, heavy wrought Iron chains that seemed a completely overboard measure to restrain one person. And his eyes were no longer revealed to Dean in the final moments of their meeting. They were pitch black from the beginning.

"Have a seat Dean." He heard the words come out of his own mouth as his doppelganger motioned towards the bed. "I won't bite. I can't, since you have chained me up nice and tight."

"I'll stand, thanks." Dean replied. "What am I doing here? You weren't satisfied with the ass-kicking I gave you the last time we met?"

"I don't want to fight." His dark double replied. "Why would I want to fight you? I am you, after all."

"You are not me, you filthy, demonic son-of-a-bitch." Dean spat venomously. "You are nothing like me."

"Demon?" The other Dean laughed. "I'm not demonic. I'm you. I am the part of you that you have been denying all your life. I'm the part that you have kept locked-up in the farthest corner of your brain."

Dean looked around for a serviceable weapon, wondering if he could will one out of thin air.

"You know it's true." The thing said. "I'm the killer part of you. I'm the one in control every time you shoot a werewolf, everytime you behead a vampire or stab a demon. I am the rush of thrill you get when you do all that stuff, when you tortured all those souls in hell. I am you Dean. And the fact that you are here means you can't deny it anymore."

"Okay, fine." Dean concedes. "You are me, I know that. You are that dark place inside me that I never go to. I get it. It still doesn't explain what I'm doing here, though. What is this, some final fight for me to put you down for once and for all?"

"You don't remember how you got here?" It asks quizzically.

"Obviously this is some kind of dream. So that means I'm asleep."

"Try again Dean." His dark passenger encourages. "Try to remember a little harder."

How did he get here? Dean's memories start to trickle through. "We–we were on a hunt." _Four vics committed suicide. All well-adjusted family men, no history of depression or drugs._ "Christian was with us." _Sam, Dean take Christian with you. Dean, I know you have issues with him, but he has experience with this sort of thing. He could help._ "The bodies had gone missing after the funeral. I thought it was some God, but Christian said it was a wraith covering its tracks. Sam agreed with him." _The pattern just fits better, Dean._ "The suspect zero was a psychic at the local carnival. All four had visited her. I volunteered to be the bait since me and Sam had dealt with this thing before and Sam is different now." _We'll be watching your back Dean. As soon as this thing shows itself, we'll kill it._ "But it wasn't a wraith, was it? The silver knife didn't kill it."

"Very good Dean." His counterpart said. "Do you also remember who you thought it was?"

"I thought it was the Goddess Psyche. She showed the men their true selves and they couldn't handle it. I was right. I-I gotta let Sam know."

"Bravo." It said sarcastically. "Right on all counts. Except the last one. Sam knows."

"What? No. Sam wouldn't - "

"Remember what Bobby told you?" it interrupted. "About how to kill that Goddess."

"He said- he said, the Goddess was most vulnerable when she was communing with the soul of her victim. But Sam wouldn't do this. He wouldn't let me walk in blind. He must have believed it was a wraith."

"Like Sam would ever pass up the opportunity to kill a monster himself. Face it Dean. You are the bait and your partners are probably killing her right now."

"NO." Dean denied vehemently. "Sam promised me he wouldn't lie to me anymore. He said he wanted his soul back. He said he would do anything to prove to me that he was still my brother. He said he would follow my lead."

"Oh, wake up." The thing shouted back. "Sam lies. He has never had a problem with lying to you before and he certainly doesn't now. If only you weren't so stupid to fall for it every single time."

"Sam doesn't have a soul." Dean said quietly. "That's all there is to it. He is soulless, that's why he can't make the right decisions anymore. Once we get his soul back-"

"Then what?" It said. "You will just ride off into the sunset and live happily ever-after? How can you still delude yourself like that? There is always something with Sam. Something is always wrong with him. That's why he keeps you around, to fix whatever's wrong. And as soon as he is okay again, he'll leave you behind in dust. Just like everyone else. Just like Dad."

"Okay, I get it. I'm weak and pathetic and only good for whatever I can do for others." Dean confessed. "So, is the big epiphany over now? Do I get to get away from you again?"

"Why would you wanna leave me?" The thing said sadly. "I'm all you have left."

"What?"

"Look at your life." It continued. "You have no one left. No one cares about you. Not as much as you care about them. Not even as much as you care about yourself, which I know, is not much. Bobby- you are just a surrogate son to him with whom he can have a semblance of a family. HE doesn't care about how you are doing, whether you are happy or not. He just wants to keep the family together. And you are an acceptable price to pay for that."

"Bobby cares about me. He kept Sam coming back a secret to protect me."

"He kept you wallowing in misery for the whole year. If he had cared, he would have known that you didn't want that. And Sam." It continued. "Do I even need to tell you? You were never his real family, as much as you tried to be. He always picked others over you, some other friends, some other family. And now he has a new and better brother in Christian. Remember the way he greeted him at the base, he didn't look that happy when he saw you after a year. You can give all the excuses you want like he had just come back from hell or he has no soul, but who do you think he is gonna hunt with after he gets it back? Who do you think he is gonna pick? His poor loser of a brother who is good only for bait? Or his new family?"

"You are lying." Dean said unconvincingly. "He wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't he? But maybe it would be for the best. That way you could live happily with Lisa and Ben."

"Lisa doesn't want me back. She asked me never to come around again."

"Yeah, she did, didn't she?" His double agreed. "You gave her, in her words, the happiest year of her life and she dumps you the first chance she gets."

"She made the right choice." Dean defended. "I was putting her and Ben in danger."

"It was the right choice- for her." It countered. "But what about you? You saved her kid's life for God's sake. You saved her life. How about, for once, someone putting your needs above theirs, like you have been doing all your life. All of them, everyone, Sam, Dad, Bobby, Lisa, none of them have ever put you first, not even a close second. They just use you and take from you and you just keep giving. Even Cas. Now that the apocalypse is over, he will come running if you have a shiny new weapon for him, but God forbid you need anything. Then he is nowhere to be seen."

"Cas is a good friend." Dean said weakly.

"Sure, as long as you can help him keep his faith in humanity and God. As long as you can keep assuring him that he didn't make a mistake in picking your side. But one moment of weakness, one time that you falter and he would beat you senseless and throw you in the cellar. And no one- no one stood up for you. When Sam falls off the wagon, everyone wants to help him, to make him better. But if Dean is weak, he'll figure it out, just tell him how weak and pathetic he is and he will fall in line."

Dean breathed-in hard, trying to keep the lump of despair in his chest from rising up. This thing- this creature, was him. He knew that because everything it had just said, he knew all of it to be true. He had denied his thoughts, repressed them, but there was no escaping from them now. No escaping from the truth.

"What do you want?" He asked weakly.

"I want you to accept the truth Dean." Came the quiet reply. "I want you to realize that I am all you have left now."

"Yeah, I accept it." Dean acquiesced. "I know that no one cares about me. No one ever could. And I can't do anything to change that."

"That's where you are wrong." It replied. "You can start caring. You can stop denying me because you are not doing yourself any favors by keeping me locked up here."

"What?"

"I'm not the dark-side, Dean. I'm not your evil counterpart or the demon inside you. I'm the part of you that gives a damn." It explained. "I'm the hunter in you Dean, I'm the focused killer. I'm the one you have always let out when facing the creatures in the dark. I'm the one let you enjoy torturing in hell, because you would never have survived otherwise. I'm the one who has always protected you because no one else even tried, not Dad, not Sam, no one. I am all the anger and hate you have inside of you. All these monsters and people, they don't get it. I am the one they should be afraid of. The one they should all run scared to their mommies about. And I'm the only one who can't stand seeing you get hurt over and over again. Don't shut me in. Let me out. Let everyone and everything feel my wrath. Let them see what happens when you mess with Dean Winchester."

Dean noticed that the chains around his double had disappeared. He had stood up and was standing very close to himself. He knew it meant that he was close to accepting his nature, this creature.

"I can't." Dean said making a last ditch attempt at resistance. "I can't let you out. I promised myself I would never become that person again."

"Still trying to be mommy's little angel." It mocked. "Why not, Dean? You are not going to turn evil. You won't suddenly go psycho and start killing innocent people or eating children. This won't make you a monster. Your priorities will still be my priorities. Why are you always trying to tie me up? Is it because of Sam? Or Dad?" Dean nodded. "You are afraid what they might think. That's the reason you always kept me locked up. You are so scared that Dad or Bobby would see who you really are and then they wouldn't love you anymore. You are so afraid that Sam will take one look at this side of you and run screaming. Well, you don't have to worry about them anymore. They don't care enough for it to matter. They will all leave you anyway."

When Dean said nothing, it continued. "Dean, you have seen what you will become, in the future you went to. That was me looking back at you. That was me keeping the last survivors of humanity safe. Right now, the world isn't in danger, but you are. You need to let me out Dean, so I can protect you. Because no one else is willing to do that job."

"You are saying," Dean stuttered, "that-that, by becoming like you, I can be happy again."

"No Dean, you are never going to be happy." It said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You should have realized it by now. You are never going to be happy. You never even were. Not with Sam or Dad or Lisa or Ben or your mom. That's why the idea of heaven was unacceptable to you. Happiness is not in your fate Dean. But I promise you this much, if you let me out, no one will ever hurt you again."

"Okay." Dean said, looking up and meeting his own eyes. They were no longer black, but their usual hazel color. "Okay, I'm not shutting you in anymore."

* * *

"Are you still mad at me?" Sam said, breaking the silence of their ride back to the motel. "Dean, I said I was sorry already. I should have listened to you. You were right, it was the Goddess. But it worked out fine. She is dead and we are all alive. It was a successful hunt."

Dean gave Sam a blank stare, and then turned his eyes back on the road.

"C'mon, man. It was an honest mistake. Even you agreed that a wraith fitted the pattern." Sam said. "We all make these mistakes from time to time."

"And you just happened to have the weapons to kill her handy?" Dean said evenly. "That was convenient."

"Look, I just thought that you had a good theory." Sam explained. "I brought it as back-up in case you were right. What, believing in my brother is a crime now?"

The car skidded on the asphalt and came to a halt on the side of the road. _Here we go again_, Sam thought as he got out of the car after Dean.

"Sam, I told you I don't want you lying to me anymore." Dean said taking off his jacket and laying it on the hood. "Complete honesty, that was our deal if we were going to make this work. You are breaking that deal."

Sam sighed. Dean could be very stubborn once an idea got into his head. And now that he knew that Sam was soulless, even the suspicion of a lie was enough for him to go into full stack mode. Well, not anymore, Sam decided as he readied himself for the inevitable fight. He wasn't taking Dean's crap anymore just to keep him happy. He had been hunting for a year, he was in the best shape in his life and Dean had lost his edge in all the soft living. He could take Dean and if necessary, knock some sense into him. He dodged Dean's first punch easily.

As it turned out, Dean had lost none of his skills over the year. Sam wasn't holding back, he couldn't anymore even if he wanted to. But still, after a fast and furious exchange of blows, he found himself pinned to the ground with Dean kneeling on his back and twisting his arm behind him.

"I was gonna let this one go, Sam. But you just couldn't let it rest, could you?" Dean said applying pressure to his shoulder blade. "You wanna apologize, you can start by telling me the truth." He said, twisting Sam's shoulder farther back. "C'mon Sam, tell me. Or I'll dislocate you fucking shoulder."

"Dean, you are not listening. I'm telling you- Arrghh." Sam screamed as Dean made good on his threat and pulled his shoulder out of the joint.

"Keep lying and you elbow's next."

"Okay, okay I'll tell you. Just let me up." Sam pleaded.

They got up from the ground and Sam cradled his right arm close to his body. It was strange, he thought, Dean seemed entirely unconcerned by his brother's pain.

"Look, I'm sorry Dean, but we needed someone to be the bait." Sam explained. "And you needed not to know the truth, otherwise she would have known. Gods can sense these things. It couldn't be me, because she would have sensed something wrong with me and Christian had no experience dealing with Gods. Even if he did, we didn't know if he would be strong enough to resist whatever mojo she was pulling on people. But you could handle it. And you did. Besides, you'd never have gone for sending another hunter blind, even if you hated his guts. I wanted to tell you Dean, but I couldn't. I'm really sorry."

Dean turned around quietly, wiping the blood of his busted lip and putting on his jacket.

"Don't be sorry, Sam." He said. "I don't expect anything else from you."

"Dean, please, I mean it. I'm sorry. I will never do any- what are you doing?" Sam said surprised as he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of Dean's gun.

"Just doing what needs to be done." Dean said calmly. "You are an animal, a soulless beast and you need to be put down."

"Dean, don't do this please." Sam begged. He was too far to leap at Dean and too close to run. At this range Dean wouldn't miss. "I'm still your brother, Dean. I know I'm screwed up but I'm trying to be better. Please Dean, don't do this. Give me a chance."

"All out of chances, Sammy." Dean said. "Bye-bye, now."

Sam closed his eyes and flinched as the shot rang out. He waited for the pain to came, but it never did. He slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what he might see.

"Huh?" Dean said, smirking at him and putting the gun back in the waistband. "Looks like something does scare you after all."

Sam looked on in shock as Dean went around the car and started getting in.

"Funny." He said nervously. "You gonna fix my shoulder now?"

"No. Not until we get back to the motel. Christian can fix it for you there." Dean replied calmly. "And just so you know, I intend to hit every pot-hole on the way back, so if you wanna avoid some pain, I suggest you start walking from here on."

Sam stared at his brother as he got back into the car. Quietly, Sam went in the passenger side. For the first time since he had come back from hell, Sam felt fear.

* * *

**A/N**: There it is, the first chapter. Now, I want to clear up a few things. First, this will clearly be AU, but I'll try to include as much of the show as possible. Second, the thing inside Dean isn't some demon or effect of the goddess, its Dean. Whatever has happened to Dean, or might happen, won't be supernatural, it will be all him. Third, I have no idea how I'm going to proceed with the story. I have a vague idea where I want it all to end. So don't expect many updates. Fourth, the titles of the chapters will be taken from some of my favorite rock songs and will be relevant to the theme of each one. Fifth, Sam and Dean are both going to be very dark in this story, but Dean will definitely be darker. I'm not trying to make it into a hate-Sam or hate-Dean story, even if it might seem like that sometimes. Sam might get his soul back somewhere in the middle, but Dean won't be back to himself for a long time, if ever. Sixth, reviews, as always, are welcome. So type away.


	2. Chapter 2 : Good Day In Hell

**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.

**Summary**: Dean was the one they should be worried about. Dean was the one they should be watching out for. They didn't realize what Dean was capable of and if Dean had his way, they wouldn't realize it for a long time.

**A/N**: Here's Ch2. In this story, I'm kind of basing Dean's character on Guts from a manga called Berserk. In that the lead character becomes so damaged by a friend's betrayal that he becomes blood-thirsty and ruthless to the point of psychotic. Seriously, the hero would not hesitate using innocent little girls as human shields against their demonic fathers.

* * *

**Chapter 2. Good Day In Hell**

"A penny for your thoughts." Bobby said, making Dean look up from his research.

"Just a penny?" Dean replied. "You're turning into a cheapskate."

The Winchesters were holed up in the Singer Salvage yard after a particularly nasty hunt. Nasty for Sam, anyway. While Dean had made it out with a few cuts and scrapes, Sam had concussion and a broken ankle, courtesy of a pissed off spirit. He was currently sleeping it off upstairs. Not sleeping, Dean reminded himself, because this new Sam didn't sleep. He was probably staring at the ceiling in daze, too stoned from the painkillers to do anything else.

"Bobby, you know any sure-fire way to summon an angel?" Dean asked, looking up from his research.

"Have you tried- I dunno- praying?" Dean nodded. "What's the matter? Castiel not answering your calls?"

"He does when he thinks we have something for him." Dean replied. "He'd a no-show the rest of the time."

"Well, he must be busy with his war. You think he has something new on Sam?" Dean shrugged. "You have something you need his input on?" Another shrug. "Then why the hell do you wanna summon him?"

"I don't. Not right now." Dean said. "Just thought it might come handy in future. A guy needs someone to talk to from time to time and it sure as hell ain't gonna be that robot upstairs."

"You could talk to me."

"Last time I checked, you didn't like me calling you and bitching about stuff." Dean replied coldly.

Bobby considered Dean with a troubled look. It bugged him to see Dean's new attitude towards his brother, especially since it wasn't Sam's fault that he was soulless. Besides, Dean had never shown any hesitation in coming to him with his problems. And even though the old hunter would never admit it, it had made him feel good, like he was a real father to Dean, someone Dean trusted to take care of him. But Dean hadn't talked to him much in the last few weeks. Sure he'd called to get information on monsters and Sam's soul, but he had stopped calling Bobby to just vent.

"Whatever, screw it all." Dean said, closing the heavy book. "Guess, I'll just head out then."

"Head out where?" Bobby asked. "You just got here last night."

"Got a hunt in new Orleans." Dean replied. "Looks like there has been a 'sudden rise in cultist activities and deviant sexual behavior' among the good citizens of the city. Thought it was worth checking out."

"Sam's in no condition to handle a hunt right now." Bobby pointed out.

"I know. Which is why I'm flying solo on this one." Dean replied. "Atleast I won't have to watch my back on this one."

"Enough, already." Bobby said angrily. "I know you are mad at your brother, but it ain't his fault. Trust me, when he gets his soul back- "

"Can it, will you?" Dean interrupted Bobby's tirade. "You wanna give me another lecture about family, then you can shove it. I know you like to pretend like we are your kids, but you are not our Dad, not even close. So you can stop trying to take care of me because you'll just screw it up."

"Are you mad at me or something?" Bobby asked confused. Was that why Dean was giving him the passive-aggressive cold shoulder treatment?

"Damn right I'm mad at you." Dean replied heatedly. "You go around acting like you know what's best for everyone, but you know what, you are a piss-poor judge of character. You think Sam's a great hunter, well what about you? You knew he was alive for a year and never noticed he was missing a soul or that there was anything wrong with him. If you had told me about Sam like you should have a year ago, we probably would've fixed this mess by now. Even after that, you were so mixed up in your own soul problems that it took Sam letting me turn into a vampire to make you take me seriously. And you were so desperate to get your own soul back, we lost the one thing we could've leveraged over Crowley. Stop trying to be our father, Bobby. The last one screwed us up for a lifetime, I don't need you to make it worse."

Bobby stared at Dean in shock. He had never ever heard Dean talk like that to anyone. Dean's rant was meant to hurt and as much as Bobby hated to admit it, it'd hit all the right spots.

"Dean- I -" Bobby tried to say.

"Forget it." Dean interrupted. "Tell Sam that he can join me in Louisiana when he feels up for it."

Bobby dumbly watched the elder Winchester walk out the door as he tried to figure out what he'd done that was so bad to warrant that tirade. Sure, he had screwed up a few times, but Dean had always forgiven him. Why were all those issues coming to surface now?

* * *

Sam, Sam, Sam. It was always about Sam. Bobby might say he was his favorite, might even believe it himself, but clearly, Sam's well-being came first. Like always. Atleast he couldn't say the same for Castiel. Whatever the angels shortcomings, like never answering the calls, of all the humans he knew, he'd always put Dean first.

"Cas, c'mon." Dean said trying to look up and keep his eyes on the road at the same time. "This is about helping you."

"You have found another one of heaven's weapons?" It was a testament to how much Dean had grown accustomed to the angel's unusual arrivals that all he did was stiffen in his seat and not swerve the car off the road. "Does this involve the case you are working on."

"No, it does not." Dean replied. "This case is about increased pornography among Louisiana cults. I'm thinking some an incubus or a sex-demon."

"There is no such thing as a sex-demon." Cas said conversationally. "Unless you count Lust."

"One of the seven sins?" Dean said. "Wait, I thought that the incubi were a kind of demon."

"They are hell-spawn like the hounds, bit not demons per-se." Cas explained. "They do, however, share a lot of characteristics with Lust. They both invoke sexual desire in people and their primary goal is to procreate. Though they do have a much higher success rate than Lust, considering that she hasn't been topside for six centuries and you sent her back to hell when she got here."

"Yeah, good times." Dean smiled.

"Is that all then?" Castiel questioned.

"No. I – uh - ." Dean cleared his throat. "I wanted to apologize to you. I know I have been asking a lot from you recently, especially since you have huge problems of your own. So, to make it up to you, I wanna offer you my help."

"Your help? In the civil war?" Cas looked bemused.

"I know, I can't do much for you up there. So I'll do what I can down here." Dean explained. "If you can just tell me what nukes were missing and what they do, I'll try to track them down by watching for signs of them showing up. That's gotta lessen your load somewhat."

"Thank you, that would be a great help." Castiel said, considering the proposal. "But you need not apologize for demanding things from me. The fact that you do so, makes me feel like one of you."

"Uh-huh." Dean said stonily. "So you make any headway with Sam's soul?"

"Regretfully, no." Castiel replied. "I have found an ancient spell that could locate all the parts of a person if you have a part of him. I mean, if you have his body, it can help you locate the soul and vice-versa."

"And you didn't tell me before, because-"

"Because I still don't know how it works exactly." Castiel explained. "I haven't figured out all the details and some of the ingredients required are extremely difficult to find."

"Can't you just angel your way to whatever you need?" Dean asked. "Ingredients were never a problem for you before."

"It's not that simple Dean." Castiel said, and as he proceeded to explain the nuances of ancient magic, Dean realized that it was the longest conversation he had had in his car for a long time.

* * *

As it turned out, Dean was still a pretty good hunter on his own. He had figured out the case all by himself. He had infiltrated the cult and waited for their demon-god to appear, which, as he had expected, had turned out to be nothing more than an incubus. He had killed their God, right in front of them in the middle of a ceremony and in the ensuing chaos, killed most of the witches who had summoned it. All in all, he had done an exemplary job. Even Sam had admitted as much. The Campbells had not been as generous.

"You let some witches escape?" Christian asked snidely.

"Give him a break, Chris." Gwen said. "It was his first time flying solo after a long time."

A week after the hunt he had rejoined Sam and they were currently at the Campbell base, trying to find some clues about an Alpha. Sam and Samuel were holed up in the study. Clearly, Samuel still didn't trust him enough to share the more intimate details of the Alpha hunt and he didn't see Sam speak up for him. Meanwhile, it was all he could do to keep himself from killing both Christian and Gwen for their patronizing tones.

"Why don't you take on an incubus yourselves?" Dean replied. "Let's see how you fare?"

"Oh, we're gonna." Christian replied. "A source tells me that there might be one in Mansfield. Now it's either two incubi within a week from each-other in the same state, or you didn't kill the last one properly or maybe the witches you let escape, have summoned themselves a new God. Which one do you think it is?"

"The incubi sometimes hunt in packs." Dean said thoughtfully. "But the one I was hunting was definitely alone. You sure you got this thing right. Not missing anything."

"Don't be petty, Dean." Gwen interjected. "The info is solid. Don't worry, we'll give you some tips when we get back."

Cockiness was never a virtue for hunters, however much it was in show during their dealings with these creatures. Both Christian and Gwen were too cocky for their own good and the way they were going, Dean thought, they were going to get themselves killed. He said as much to Sam later on.

"You are kidding, right?" Sam seemed surprised. "Dean, you can't stand those two. You can't be alone with Christian for more than five minutes without coming to blows."

"But you like them." Dean countered. "That should be reason enough for you to want to help them."

"I'm not sure like is the correct word." Sam replied. "I mean, I trust them to watch my back and they are family. I guess if I really felt something, I could care for them a lot, but as things are, I don't. I think they can handle it on their own."

"Wow." Dean said. "You didn't think I could handle the incubus hunt on my own. You said as much on the phone."

Sam had the decency to look chastised, even if he didn't feel it.

"Look, I just think we have bigger fish right now." He said. "Why are you so worried about it anyway?"

Dean looked a bit uncomfortable at the question.

"I just have a bad feeling about this, that's all." He answered.

Dean's instincts were usually dead-on, Sam told himself. Even though there might be no rational reason for the hunt to go south, if Dean's instincts said so, Sam thought, people better take notice. Even if Christian would never agree with the idea, the fact remained that he had returned from the hunt alone.

* * *

"Can you remember anything else?" Samuel sounded desperate. Dean didn't know if it was genuine concern for his grand-niece or the desire to protect an asset who knew a lot of his secrets, he had been desperate enough to include Dean in the hunt. "Anything? Like what it looked like?"

"I told you, we never even saw the damned thing." Christian answered. "I was looking for the witches and found them dead and by the time I got back, Gwen was gone."

Dean looked around the room. There were atleast six other hunters, apart from him and Sam, trying to figure out where Gwen might be. He wondered if the turn-up would have been this impressive if he had gone missing. Probably not.

"Guys, have you looked at this." Dean pointed to a small area on the map of Louisiana. "Weather patterns been crazy over here. Lightening, electrical storms, the lot. I think this might be worth checking out."

"The incubi don't cause that stuff." Christian said. "You are looking at demonic patterns and unlike you, Gwen won't be stupid enough to let a demon get a drop on her."

"Look, there has been something wrong with this hunt from the get-go." Dean said, ignoring the insult. "These patterns, they were there in Mansfield when you were hunting. And the kidnapping pattern doesn't fit the incubi. There are only two reasons they'd want a hunter chick. Either they wanna kill her, which we are hoping against or they wanna spawn. In that case, they won't kidnap and take care of her for nine months. They are more of dream-rapists."

"The demons have nothing to do with this." Samuel said distractedly. "I asked Crowley. He knows nothing about this. The incubi are our best lead for now. Things are breaking pattern nowadays, if you didn't get the memo."

"Demons lie." Dean said at the same moment as Arlene entered the room.

"Found them." She announced to the hunter collective. "Anderson got a lead on an incubus gang. It's about five hundred miles from where Gwen disappeared."

"Great. We can head out tomorrow." Samuel issued the orders. "Everybody, pack –up and get a good night's sleep. Dean, why don't you stay put on this one?"

"What?"

"Look, Sam's ankle is still not a hundred percent, so he can't come." Samuel explained. "I just feel that it would be better if you stayed behind with your brother here."

Dean looked over at Sam who didn't seem much concerned by Samuel's orders. He probably had been asked to stay behind before, Dean thought.

"So you are saying that the only reason you'd want me on a hunt was if Sam was there." Dean asked acridly.

"No one's saying that." Samuel replied. "But we have a difference of opinion on this one. And if there is one thing I have learned, it's that when you don't agree with someone, you don't follow their orders. And I don't need you getting in way of this hunt."

"Fine. You are the boss." Dean answered.

* * *

Dean could seem deceptively innocent when he wanted to, Sam realized. He had believed Dean would stay put, as had the others, but as soon as the rest of them went to sleep, Dean had their duffels packed, loaded and ready to go.

"Dean, Samuel's gonna be mad if we jump the gun on this one." Sam said looking over to his brother whose eyes were focused on the road.

"He'll get over it." Dean replied. "Especially when we save Gwen."

"Why not let them do it?" Sam asked. "Why are you so desperate to prove yourself to them?"

"I'm not." Dean answered. "Look, Samuel's chasing down the wrong lead. It's not an incubus, I just know it. We are following my hunch. If I'm wrong, well, we just gank a demon."

It was a demon. Though looking for it had been as easy as looking for a needle in a haystack, they had tracked it down to its lair, which happened to be a nice two-storey house in the suburbs. Sam was convinced that had not noticed their presence, which made it easier for them to sneak in the house and lay a trap for it. It had been pretty easy afterwards, just laying low and waiting for it to step into the paint. The only hitch in the plan was, even when they had trapped it, they had no idea where Gwen was or if it even had her.

"If you boys had told me you were coming, I would have set up a proper welcome." The demon was surprisingly congenial.

"It wouldn't be a surprise then, would it?" Dean said splashing holy water in his face and watching him writhe as steam rose off him. "I'll ask you one more time. Where is Gwen Campbell?"

"Who again? I'm really bad wit names." He smiled charmingly. Sam had to admit, this one had good taste. It had chosen a strikingly handsome man to possess. "Enough about some chick Dean. Tell me about you. What's been up with you since the last time we met."

"We've met before?" Dean asked.

"C'mon Dean." He answered. "You can't tell me you have forgotten the passion that we shared the last time."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't swing that way." Dean answered.

"Ofcourse you do." He replied. "Everyone swings every way with me. Look at Sam right now. He looks ready to jump me."

Uncomfortable heat pooled Sam's stomach as realization dawned on him.

"It's Lust." He informed Dean. "One of the seven sins."

"You feeling his effects?" Dean asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Ofcourse he is." Lust replied. "Turns out, when you don't have a soul to guide you, your primal instincts come right to the surface. You are the only one who had ever been able to resist my charms, Dean. You should really tell me your secret sometime."

Dean considered his dilemma. The interrogation seemed to be going nowhere and Sam looked ready to start humping the nearest thing.

"Alright Hefner, you got two choices." Dean said. "You can either tell us where Gwen is and we will let you pick between killing you or sending you to hell. Or you can keep playing and we will hand you over to our angel. You have heard about him, right? Castiel the badass. He is currently at war and he would love an opportunity to get the seven virtues on his side by handing them a live sin."

"You are lying." Lust said. "Virtues are a myth. We are the only real deal."

"Well, if you believe that, you got nothing to worry about." Dean said as he turned upwards ready to shout fro Cas.

"Alright, fine." Lust interrupted. "Your cousin is in a warehouse five down by the docks. She is in a cage and some of my demons are keeping guard. Okay, I've told you what you wanted. Now kill me already. I can't go back to hell again"

"As you wish." Dean said, taking out the demon-killing knife.

"What? No." The demon said. "You are not supposed to do what I ask. You are supposed to do the opposite, send me back to hell."

"Sorry, buddy." Dean replied smirking. "We are men of honor."

Flashes of light ran all through the demon's body as Dean stabbed him. Another one down, Dean thought, that was four out of the seven sins. He wondered if they actually managed kill the other three, if the world would actually become sin-free. Fat chance, but a man could dream, right?

"Sam, c'mon, we gotta get to the docks." Dean said turning around and found Sam sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Yeah, why don't you go get her and I'll clean-up here?" Sam said.

Dean smirked. It wasn't Sam's fault that his loss of soul made him extra vulnerable to Lust's power. But he sure as hell wasn't going to let his brother live this one down.

* * *

Samuel Campbell had never felt so frustrated in his life. This should have been a successful hunt. All signs had solidly pointed towards it being one. He probably shouldn't have taken such a big team with him. Some incubus must have noticed them rolling into town because no sooner that they had set up camp, all signs had disappeared. They weren't even able to bag a single one of them, let alone get the confirmation that Gwen was with them. On second thoughts, he probably should've just left Christian behind. He wouldn't have liked it but Christian was known to these things. If one of them saw him, they'd know what they were in town for. Well, atleast he didn't have Dean on his ass about the screwed-up hunt. Sam and Dean had split the night before and Samuel had half been expecting them to try and undercut him, but clearly Dean had taken offence at being asked to stay put and gone off to follow some hunt with his brother. It was a pity, they could use Sam on their side now. The young man was a fierce hunter who had won Samuel's respect with his prowess over the year. Even though Samuel didn't agree with some of the decisions he made, he could see now that the decision to leave Dean out of the hunt had been a good one. The elder Winchester had been a thorn on Samuel's side since the beginning, reminding him too much of the young upstart who had dared to date his daughter. Samuel could remember the suspicion with which he had greeted Dean back in 1973 and realized now that the same suspicion was being returned to him in full. No sooner had Dean come into his life that all his plans were starting to fall apart. The boy never listened to orders, always asked uncomfortable questions, always tried to take charge and always led his emotions lead him. It looked like all the bad qualities he had tried to stamp out in Mary had been passed on to her son. Well, if Dean was pissed enough, he might not have to deal with him for a couple of weeks.

No such luck, Samuel realized as he entered the base and found Sam lounging on the chair.

"Hey, how was the hunt?" Sam asked cheerily.

"It was a bust." Samuel answered sullenly. "You brother here?" Sam nodded. "Go tell him to pack his crap. I guess we got no choice now but to follow his lead."

"No need." Sam smiled brightly. "Dean and me did that on our own. He was right. It was a demon. Dean is inside with Gwen right now."

Samuel supposed that the news would have been better received had they not simultaneously had to swallow the fact that Dean had succeeded where they had failed. Inspite of that there was a collective sigh of relief of relief followed by a barrage of questions about her well-being.

"She's fine, physically atleast." Sam said calming everyone down. "Look, she's a bit stressed right now, so don't everyone barge in just yet. Just unload your stuff and give Dean some time with her. Samuel, Christian," Sam added as the rest of them dispersed. "Can I talk to you guys in the study for a minute?"

Sam was working his nerve to tell them something big, Samuel realized. He felt a chill of fear race through him. He needed Gwen. Turned out, not many hunters were willing to follow you when you were taking orders from a demon. Gwen was one of the few family members left that he could trust. Christian was there ofcourse, and Sam, but Dean was a wildcard. He hoped that this rescue wouldn't let Dean turn Gwen against him as well.

"Look, Gwen went through pretty bad stuff in her captivity." Sam said, closing the study door behind them. "She was kidnapped by a pretty powerful demon. The one they call Lust."

"You mean like one of the seven sins?" Samuel asked. "They are real?"

"Yeah." Sam answered. "Me, Dean and a few other hunter faced them sometime back. We managed to kill a few and send the rest back to hell. I don't know how but Lust made it back topside but it did. And with Gwen – well- he raped her."

Sam let them have a moment to let it sink in and watched their expressions change from shock to horror to rage.

"That son-of-a-bitch." Christian shouted. "I'm gonna rip him limb from limb."

"Too late." Sam said. "Dean already killed him. Besides, that's not even the worst part."

"What could be worse, Sam?" Samuel asked, his voice filled with dread.

Sam's answer was interrupted by Arlene rushing into the room.

"Sam, I just saw Gwen." She said. "She is throwing up in the toilet. I'm not sure if I even saw this right, but she looked – pregnant."

"That would be the worse." Sam said as Christian fell back into the chair and Samuel put his head in his hands. They sat quietly like that while Sam brought Arlene upto speed.

"This is just gonna be a normal baby right?" Christian said, looking around for confirmation. "I mean, the guy was possessed, but it was still a guy and she is just a girl. No reason for this thing to be anything another than a normal pregnancy."

"You didn't see her." Arlene said. "She looks like she is a two months into the pregnancy already."

"Its way worse than that." Sam added. "When a demon has a baby with a human, well, the result is the Anti-Christ."

"That's real too?" Christian asked.

"Yeah, me and Dean met one during the apocalypse." Sam explained. "Now this thing's real power comes out when Lucifer is topside, but it's pretty powerful even without it. It has some natural protection against angels and demons."

"Well, then, we are just gonna have to kill it before it's born." Samuel said decisively. "There is no other way around it. This things cannot be allowed to be born."

"I know." Sam said. "But Gwen wants to have the kid. I guess some power the baby has makes the mother want to protect it above everything else. Look," Sam added as he saw everyone get tense again. "Dean is trying to talk her out of it. Give her some time to process it before you start forcing an abortion on her."

He should have given them more time to process, Sam thought. After what seemed like ages of silence, they all agreed that one way or the other, Gwen would have to terminate her pregnancy.

"Sam, you done with your chat?" Dean said barging into the room in his usual display of good manners. "C'mon, got a lead from Bobby. We got a hunt."

The abrupt announcement of their departure took Sam by surprise, but he supposed that Dean didn't want to stick around a moment longer than he absolutely had to.

"Dean, is she- ?" Samuel started getting up.

"She's fine." Dean replied. "As fine as I suppose she could be with demon-spawn inside her. She's asleep right now, so just give her an hour before you start the third degree, okay?"

Samuel sat back down.

"Dean, son, I – uh -" Samuel started.

"Yeah, I know. Apology accepted and you are welcome." Dean said sarcastically. "Are we done here? Good. Sam, your stuff is in the trunk. Let's roll."

Sam walked out behind his brother without another word. Dean had every right to be pissed, but did he have to be so ungracious about it? This might have been his chance to be truly accepted as one of them. But Dean didn't seem to care. He practically ran out of the compound with Sam in tow. Sam didn't even have the chance to see if Dean had actually collected his stuff before they were speeding their way out of the compound. Dean really was in a hurry to get out of there.

"Dean, what the hell is going on?" Sam asked when he first got the chance about a mile away from the base. "Why the hell are we practically running out of the base?"

"Because of me." A voice said from the back-seat.

Sam jumped and then turned around to see Gwen sitting up in the seat. She had been laying low there the whole time.

"Dean is helping me get away from them." She said.

Sam looked questioningly at Dean.

"Samuel is never gonna let that baby be born." Dean said without turning around. "But Gwen wants it. So we are helping her protect her child."

Sam sank back into his seat. There was no way that this was going to end well.

* * *

Travelling with a pregnant woman was hell. Travelling with a pregnant woman who got sick every five minutes – worse hell. Travelling with a pregnant woman who got sick every five minutes and was carrying hell-spawn and Sam though that he was back in the cage. It wasn't enough that they couldn't move as fast as they usually did, they had to do so while avoiding contact with any and all hunters they knew. They even had to avoid Bobby, lest they brought the heat upon him. Apparently the news of a new Antichrist was out like a wildfire and every hunter they knew seemed to be gunning for them. For the hundredth time Sam regretted his promise to his brother to take his orders.

That didn't mean he hadn't tried. He had tried his best to convince both Gwen and Dean to see reason, but they had both been adamant. There were times that he had almost called Samuel to let him know of their location, but he hadn't. It wasn't compassion or a moral compass that had stopped him, but he knew that if he betrayed his brother one more time, Dean would leave him. And if Dean left, he'd have absolutely no hope of ever getting his soul back. Crowley's game was perfect. He had masterfully used both him and Samuel to do his bidding. Dean was the only wildcard in the game, the one thing that always brought the plans of heaven and hell to nullity. Sam had been ignorant of everything, of the absence of his soul, of the extent of Samuel's knowledge and of his part in furthering Crowley's plans. But within weeks of coming back, Dean had been able to expose everything. So if Crowley's plans failed, they were going to because of Dean and Sam was willing to put the fate of the world at risk for that.

There was only one upside of the pregnancy and that was its rate of progress. The way the baby seemed to be growing, it seemed like it would come to full term within a month. And sure enough, after one month on the run, the brothers were waiting outside the motel room, while a providently found mid-wife was helping Gwen deliver the baby. They heard a new-born's cries arise from inside at looked at each-other, the unsaid words clear between them. The Antichrist was born.

* * *

"You feeling better?" Sam asked.

"Much." Gwen smiled. "Now that that little devil is out of me."

It had been a day since the birth of the child and Sam had hoped that whatever magical hold the baby had over Gwen would end with the pregnancy. No such luck. Gwen was as much in love with the child as any mother could be. And even if he could somehow convince Gwen, now that the baby was born, Dean would probably insist on doing the irrational thing. Well, the child didn't seem much like a monster, except when he was screaming bloody murder all night long.

As if on cue, they heard the wailing start up again outside the motel room where Dean had taken the baby for some fresh air. A few minutes later Dean came back in looking frustrated and a little guilty.

"I'm sorry." He said. "He just woke up again."

"Aww, someone doesn't like uncle Dean." Gwen cooed to the baby, taking him in her arms. "He seems to like Uncle Sam just fine."

"Probably all the demon blood." Dean said under his breath.

It should have hurt, Sam thought, but it didn't. Perks of not having a soul.

"Guys, really, thanks for all you have done." Gwen said looking gratefully at each of them. "You don't have to worry about me much longer. Me and little Dean here are going to be out of your hair tomorrow. We'll go into hiding somewhere and you guys can go back to the camp. If they'll take you."

"Don't worry about us, Gwen." Dean reassured. "You just take care of yourself."

Sensing an awkward moment coming on, Sam excused himself to get some food for them. For a moment he considered asking Dean to go, but rejected the idea. Neither Gwen nor Dean seemed comfortable leaving him unsupervised with the child.

"I'm guessing he will try to stay gone as long as he can." Dean said watching Sam step out of the room. Little Dean chose that moment to restart his lung exercises. "I guess I will join him."

"It takes two guys to bring back a couple of burgers." Gwen said teasingly.

"Yeah, you got me." Dean said ruefully. "If I listen to that thing cry one more time, I'm gonna shoot you for giving birth to it."

"Just go." Gwen said. "We'll be fine. The salt is in place and the sigils are okay."

"Great." Dean replied, grabbing his jacket. As the volume of cries increased, he added, "Might not make it back for few hours, though."

* * *

"Dean you have to realize the stupidity of this." Sam was making a last ditch attempt to change his brother's mind. "It's not like with Jesse. Jesse had a normal nine-month pregnancy. He grew up almost a normal kid till Lucifer showed up. His powers are completely dependent on Lucifer, but this kid, he is born into a post-apocalypse world. Things are crazy all around and it is already using its powers. Gwen is in its thrall, so she can't see it, but you should."

"I know Sam." Dean replied quietly. They were parked on the side of the road, contemplating their next move.

"Everybody we know, every single hunter, says that kid needs to die." Sam continued. "The Campbells, Rufus, even Bobby, they all want it dead. It isn't like with the shapeshifter kid. I know you think that it isn't evil, but with something this powerful, we can't take that chance."

"I said I know Sam." Dean said heatedly. "I get it. Kid needs to die."

Sam was surprised. He had hoped but never expected to actually change his brother's mind.

"Just like that?" He said. "You agree with me just like that?"

"I always knew that we couldn't let it live." Dean said sadly. "But I wanted to let Gwen make that choice. Well, it's too late for that, now that she's parting ways tomorrow."

"So," Sam considered their options, "You want me to do it?"

"Are you crazy? No." Dean replied. "Gwen would try to kill you if you tried to hurt her baby. It can't be the Campbells either, they need her back in the fold. I got a better idea."

Dean took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Who are you - ?" Sam started asking but Dean held up a hand to quiet him down and put the phone on speaker.

"Hello, Dean." A silky smooth voice said from the other end.

"Hiya, Crowley. How's life?" Dean replied cheerily.

"It's always difficult when ones employees go AWOL. I don't like that." Crowley said.

"Sorry about that." Dean replied. "Had a family emergency. Think you might have heard. There is a new life amongst us."

"You don't understand what you are playing with." Crowley's voice took on an edge. "That child could restart the apocalypse, he could destroy everything we have worked for. I knew you were stupid, but this is too monumental, even for you."

"Get your panties out of the bunch, Fergie." Dean said, "I know we can't let that thing live. So this time, I'm letting you do our dirty job. Just one condition, the mother lives."

"Alright. As you say." Sam could almost hear the smile in Crowley's voice.

"Dude, remember, she is Samuel Campbell's pet. You kill her and whatever hold you have on gramps might not be enough."

"Very well. I give you my word." Crowley sighed.

"Guess that'll have to do for now." Dean said, "They are in 157, Pines motel, Colorado Springs."

Sam looked at Dean with something akin to shock as the line was cut. This was not usual behavior for his brother.

"You think you can trust a demon with this?" He asked.

"Yeah." Dean answered. "Crowley will never let anything that can one day upstage him, survive."

And sure enough, when they reached back to the motel two hours later, Gwen was crying silent tears, holding a bloodied child in her arms.

* * *

"You should never have let it come to this." Samuel said. "You should have killed that child long ago."

"It was Gwen's choice." Dean replied.

"Doesn't matter." Samuel countered. "Her judgment was compromised. Yours wasn't."

They were taking turns watching over Gwen. Since the baby's death, the power it had had over his mother had disappeared, but it still left Gwen broken and despondent. She agreed that the child had to be killed and she also agreed that they shouldn't have let her get away with it, but none of the facts eased her pain of child-loss.

Samuel had once again chosen to put the blame squarely on Dean's shoulders. But he was forced to admit now that Dean was one of them. If he cared enough to risk everything for sake of a cousin he barely knew, then he definitely must be a Campbell.

"By the way, Samuel." Dean said as his grandfather was leaving the room. "I want you to know that I'm here to help. Anything that you need with the Alpha hunt, I'm here."

"Really?" Samuel looked suspicious. "Why?"

"Because I think I know why you are working with Crowley." Dean answered. "There ain't many things that can get a hunter to work for a demon, but family's one of them. And I realize now how you feel about family. I happen to know from my visit to heaven that Mom and Dad are not there. So, I'm guessing that either Crowley holds their souls or they are in purgatory. Either way this hunt is the only way to get them some peace." Dean saw Samuel stiffen up. "Look, you don't have to say anything. You can keep your secrets. Just know that, I'm here. If you need me."

"Thank you, Dean." Samuel nodded. "You are a good man, son."

With that he stepped out of the room to let Dean continue the vigil. Dean sighed and sat down for another long night.

"He's right, you know?" Gwen said from the bed.

"You are awake?" Dean observed.

"Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all you did." Gwen said. "You might not have made the best decisions, but still, thanks for taking care of me and my baby. You might not be all that as a hunter, but you are hell of a guy."

Dean felt a trickle of anger seep into him.

"Not all that as a hunter, huh?" He said coldly. "I seem to remember saving your bacon a couple of times."

"No – I didn't -" Gwen took a deep breath. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm really not trying to offend you."

"Then tell me." Dean said. "What makes me such an inferior hunter to the rest of them."

"Well, you let your heart rule your head." Gwen replied. "You can't control your emotions and you end up making the wrong decisions. Like with me and the baby, the smart thing to do, the right thing to do was to terminate the pregnancy. But you didn't let that happen. In my experience, things like that get you killed. That is why Sam without his soul is the best hunter among all of us."

"Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that the next time you are spreading you legs for a demon." Dean spat venomously and walked out, ignoring the bewildered and hurt look on Gwen's face.

* * *

"Come on down, Cas." Dean shouted to thin air. "Get your ass here, pronto."

It had been two days since he and Sam left the Campbell base. They had no hunts at the moment and Sam was out getting them some food.

"C'mon Cas. I got something for you." Dean felt like he was repeating himself needlessly. "Well, technically it's for me, but this was your idea."

"I presume from your words that it is not one of heaven's weapons." Castiel said appearing behind him. This time Dean didn't even flinch.

"You presume correctly." Dean replied mimicking the angel. "How do expect me to find anything when you still haven't given me the list?"

"I'm sorry. That was remiss of me." Castiel admitted, handing over what seemed like a diary to Dean.

"Okay, cool." Dean said, flipping through the pages and giving it a once over. "I'll call you if I find anything. Onto other order of business then. You made any progress with that soul locating spell you have been working on?"

"No." Castiel informed him regretfully. "The last ingredient is the key and it still remains elusive."

"Well, here you go then." Dean said, taking out a vial of red liquid from his pocket and tossing it to Castiel. "Blood of the Antichrist, the great bridge between humankind and spiritkind."

"This is genuine." Castiel looked at the vial in awe. "How did you come by this? I've been looking for Jesse for months."

"It's not Jesse's." Dean replied. "You may not have heard, but we recently had an Antichrist born in the family."

"I've heard. An event of that magnitude is sure to reach Heaven." Castiel replied. "But I was under the impression that the child was dead."

"He is." Dean concurred. "But the blood was taken when he was alive. It will work right?"

Indicating his assent, Castiel took out a pouch from his pocket and poured its contents, which appeared to be grey colored sand, into an empty coffee mug. He then slowly poured the contents of the vial with an Enochian incantation.

"I had already mixed the other ingredients and the rituals beforehand. We just need to complete the final step." Castiel told Dean as they watched the grey sand soak up the blood and disintegrate into red powder. "By the way, Dean. I am glad that you or your brother did not have to end that child's life."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Even from heaven we could feel the great evil within that child." Castiel explained. "Unlike Jesse, I do not believe that he had a choice in the matter of his fate. However I also know that if you or your brother had to kill him, the death would have weighed heavily on your conscience. I'm glad that you do not have to go through that."

"Sometimes we gotta bear the burden, Cas." Dean replied cryptically. "So is it done? How does this spell work?"

Castiel picked up a glass full of water and put a pinch of the red colored powder in it. Dean watched as the water turned reddish in hue.

"Now we need some body part of Sam's." Castiel said.

"Will a hair do?" Dean asked lifting one from Sam's brush. Castiel took the hair and put it in the concoction. Dean could notice no change, no sudden revelation of Sam's soul.

"Now what?"

"Now you drink this." Castiel answered. "If everything works perfectly, you will see visions indicating the location of Sam's soul."

If he had know that he had to drink the stuff Dean wouldn't have picked the hair, he'd have picked- well it was hard to imagine any body part of his brother's that didn't sound disgusting. Pinching his nose, Dean downed the brew in one go. No sooner had done so, visions assailed him. Not just visions but sounds, smells, tastes, everything. Waking up he found himself lying on bed where Castiel had undoubtedly placed up after he had collapsed.

"What did you see?"

"Bunch of random stuff." Dean replied. "A few motels, the Campbell base camp. Sam must have left some DNA there too. I saw Startbucks where I'm guessing Sam is right now. Cas, this stuff let's you find where all the parts ot he person are, not just the soul."

"Yes. That is how I explained it to you." Castiel said, "What else?"

"Well, in between it was all red and black." Dean continued. "I couldn't see anything but I heard screams and then I saw the Stull cemetery and oddly enough, the Devil's gate in Wyoming."

"The spell is showing you the pathway to your brother's soul." Castiel explained. "It is as we feared. Your brother's soul is in hell."

"What the hell, Cas?" Dean said angrily. "We knew that already. You are telling me that we went through all this trouble and found nothing?"

"I'm sorry Dean, but this is all I can do at the moment." Castiel looked genuinely contrite.

"Its fine. This atleast confirms it." Dean comforted. "Hey, can I keep the rest of the mojo? I'll put it to good use. It'll make me feel that the kid's life atleast meant something."

"Ofcourse, by all means." Castiel replied. "Though I must say Dean, the whole birth of Antichrist thing is very troubling."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, finishing up pouring the powder back in the pouch and tying the strings. "Do you know what happened?"

"Certainly. The birth of the Antichrist greatly affects heaven." Castiel replied. "We conducted an investigation of events."

"You turn up anything good?" Dean asked curiously.

"The whole chain of circumstances is extremely odd." Castiel explained. "Two days after we talk about Lust, the demon is released from captivity by one of the witches who, until now had been worshipping incubi. The ritual summoning a sin is of great rarity. Bobby is the only human I know who has it in his collection. Then the demon happens to impregnate you cousin and against all odds, the child is born. All of it seems too convenient to be co-incidental."

"What are you trying to say, Cas?"

"Dean, I fear your brother may have gone too far in his attempt to regain his soul." Cas explained. "Think about it, if he is one of the few persons who had access to the summoning ritual, to summon a demon he knows to procreate. And then the Antichrist survives just long enough to fulfill his purpose. This does not seem shady to you."

"Cas, man, you can relax." Dean laughed. "Sam didn't have anything to do with it. Why do you think he isn't here right now? I haven't told him about the spell Cas. He knows nothing about the Antichrist blood and its uses. And he didn't even know that Lust wanted to spawn until I told him and that was after I killed Lust. So you got nothing to worry about."

"You do not find it suspicious?" Castiel asked with a tilt of his head.

"Ofcourse its shady. Its shady as hell." Dean agreed. "But there are too many things Sam couldn't control even if he did set Lust free. He couldn't ensure that Lust would take a man-suit. HE couldn't predict that he'd take a fancy to Gwen. And he certainly couldn't count on hunters sparing the baby long enough for it to be born. Besides, I was with him from the start. He wanted to kill the baby from the get-go."

"Yes. Yes, you are right." Castiel said with a smile. "No human could have manipulated this course of events. I would suspect Raphael, but he would not have let the child die until it freed Michael and Lucifer from cage. No, you are right. Thank you for setting my mind at rest. It's just an unlucky occurrence of events."

Castiel disappeared in a flutter of wings and Dean smiled to himself. That's right Cas, he thought, it was all just an unlucky occurrence of events. As long as everyone believed that, that would be the truth and Dean- well, he had no reason to correct them did he?

* * *

A/N: Whoa. This is definitely the longest thing I've ever written in one go. I was thinking of splitting it into two parts, but I simply could not leave it without the twist at the end. Dean seemed such a swell guy in the story, even if a little pissed off. How many of you saw it coming? Review if you did and review if you didn't.


	3. Chapter 3 : Kings And Queens

**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.

**Summary**: He had trusted them and they had all been using him all his life, every one of them from family to friends to higher powers. Not anymore, Dean decided. From now on he was only going to trust those who had been honest with him.

**A/N**: Here's Ch3. I first thought of naming the chapter "The Gambler", but I thought this one suited better. Dean may seem OOC in this story as well as reaching the status of uber-hunter, which might be a little off-putting, but that has been the point of it all. I'm trying to show what Dean might really become if he goes down that road, something that will never happen on the show itself.

* * *

**Chapter 3. Kings And Queens**

"Why not?" Dean shouted. "I'm the one who found the lead. I'm the one who figured it out. Don't you think you should trust me by now?"

"I do trust you." Samuel replied calmly, as if explaining things to a child. "But you don't follow orders, son. You remember what happened when we went after the alpha-vamp? I don't need a repeat performance."

"So you will trust a soulless guy over me?" Dean said, gesturing towards Sam who had been standing quietly beside Christian through the whole conversation.

"Sam's smart enough to follow my lead when he's supposed to. You are not." Samuel answered. "Look, you want my trust, you have to earn it and that means shutting up and staying put when I tell you to. Got it?"

"Sure." Dean replied in a surly manner. "Go ahead, get your werewolf third in command from the guy twice removed from the second in command from the Alpha. I'm sure he'll know where to find his boss's boss's boss."

"C'mon Sam, let's load up." Samuel said, still looking steadily at Dean. "We're losing daylight."

"Dean, it'll be fine, okay." Sam comforted, walking up to Dean. "We'll be gone for a day at max. Take some time off. I promise not to do anything you wouldn't."

"That's comforting." Dean said sarcastically, but his comment was lost as Sam walked out of the room leaving Dean behind with just Christian.

"You know, it's not that he doesn't trust you." Christian said as soon as the door closed behind Sam. "It's just, you are a liability, Dean. You will just be a burden on the hunt. He just puts up with you for Sam's sake. You should just hang back and sleep around with girls. That's what you do best, anyway."

"Thanks." Dean replied stonily, "I'll keep that in mind."

Exchanging one last hate-filled look, Christian left the room to join up with the others.

* * *

"'Need to talk to you asap. Come when I'm alone'." Crowley said waving his cell in front of Dean. "This has got to be the worst summoning in the history of demonic rituals."

"Whatever works, right?" Dean smiled back. "It got you here. I thought it was about time that us old friends had a sit-down. Care for a drink?" Dean finished offering Crowley a glass.

Crowley looked at the glass and then at Dean. "It's empty."

"Bobby said you preferred your own brew." Dean replied, setting the glass on the table. "Besides, you know you don't trust not to roofie you."

"True." Crowley agreed, taking out a flask from his jacket and pouring himself some of Scotland's finest. "So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You know, you are just like the rest of the demons." Dean said. "You go on and on about how you are trying to make things better, but in the end, you are just as stubbornly set in your ways as the rest of them. You just don't see what would be best for your business, how to get the maximum out of your employees. You are all about the stick and no carrots."

"Is that so?" Crowley raised his brows. "Let me guess. You think that I should give Sam his soul back so he can work at his full potential."

"Not even close. Sam's the best hunter he can be right now and his soul isn't gonna improve that." Dean replied. "I was talking about me. You haven't been utilizing my real talents."

"That would be your granddaddy's job." Crowley said. "It's his ship and he can run it as he sees fit."

"And where has that gotten you?" Dean asked back. "He has been working for you for more than a year now and you have got jack-squat. The only thing he seems to be accomplishing is to prepare the things he hunts for the torture they are gonna get from your demons. That's one place I can be of real use to you, you know? I learned from the best."

"Alastair, huh?" Crowley reminisced fondly. "I have to admit, hell isn't the same without his – talent. And you were his star student. You broke more souls in your ten years than others did in hundred, combined. But tell me Dean, what's in it for you? You just looking for a chance to screw me over? Kill these things before I get a go at them?"

"And just where would that get me?" Dean replied. "If I wanted to screw you over, trust me, you'd be screwed. This is just me being a good employee."

Crowley sat quietly for a few moments thinking it over.

"I brought Samuel back for a reason, you know." He said after a few moments. "He knows a lot about the things you hunt. You think you can top that?"

"You ever see those old war movies." Dean replied. "They usually have these crack teams for special missions. And there are always guys with special talents, one is a very good fighter, other is a weapons expert and another has encyclopedic knowledge about everything. But none of them is ever the leader. The leader is the guy who can use all of them in the best way."

"You are right." Crowley said, setting down the now empty glass. "This is a very interesting proposition. But I think I'll stick with Samuel for now. You'd screw me over in a heartbeat if you get a chance."

"Any hunter would screw you over in a heartbeat, Fergus." Dean replied. "Better the devil you know that the devil you don't."

Crowley looked shrewdly at Dean for a moment, as if trying to read his mind and motives. Then a second later Dean was staring at an empty space. Sighing, he took Crowley's empty glass and put it in his bag.

"Who were you talking to?" A voice startled him from behind. It was Arlene, that dick Christian's wife. Dean had to admit, Christian must have had some redeeming qualities if he had landed someone like her.

"Bobby." He replied curtly.

"Thought I heard voices." Arlene said.

"I had him on speaker." Dean explained. "What are you doing here anyway? You got stuck with the reject?"

"Chris is trying to protect me." Arlene shrugged. "He doesn't want me mixed up in this stuff. He thinks I can't take care of myself."

"Yeah, I know how that feels." Dean smiled. So, apart from him and Gwen, Arlene had been judged as someone who needed protecting as well. But, they must be much nicer about it to them than him, he guessed.

"Care to join us for a drink." Arlene offered, half-halfheartedly. "Gwen raided Samuel's liquor cabinet and she seems to think that you got off on the wrong foot with all of us. So, I don't know, I guess this is some sort of bonding thing."

"Sure." Dean said, thinking it over. "Two beautiful girls offering drinks, how could I turn you down?"

* * *

"Bill, get that thing inside and be careful." Samuel ordered one of the hunters, getting out of the car. "Get him in the shed. We'll hand him over to Crowley after we work on him a bit. And don't let Dean see you."

Sam watched Bill lead the bound and blindfolded werewolf around the back. Taking his bags out of the trunk, he caught up to Samuel and Christian who were heading back into the base.

"You know, I think you should trust Dean with this stuff." He said. "That's the best way to get him to toe the line. Make him feel useful."

"That's not the point here and you know it." Samuel replied. "Dean is not strong enough to do what needs to be done, Sam. He's not like us. He's a wild-card."

Sam ignored Christian's smirk at those words. It was true. Of all the hunters Sam knew, Dean was the one who was so morbidly afraid of crossing the line that he never stepped anywhere near it. Walking into the front room they were greeted by the sight of Gwen lying unconscious on the floor.

"Gwen!" All of them dropped their bags in unison and rushed over to her. "Hey Gwen. Wake up. What happened?"

"She's alive." Samuel said, checking her pulse. "Christian, go check on Arlene."

No mention of Dean, Sam noted as Christian rushed off towards his quarters. Then his attention turned back to the woman on the floor as she groggily got up.

"Gwen, what happened here?" Samuel asked urgently.

"Relax, Gramps, its fine." She answered, rubbing her head. "Just had too much to drink last night. I got up to get some water at night and the floor just looked so comfortable. FYI, it's not." She said, rubbing a sore neck.

"You were drinking?" It should have been obvious, Sam thought. The smell of liquor was strong around her.

"Yeah. Fun times. Man, you brother can drink." She said to Sam.

Any comment Sam was about to make about his brother's alcohol tolerance were drowned in crashes and shouts coming from Christian's quarters. Confused, Sam and Samuel rushed towards the room with a disoriented and hung-over Gwen trailing behind.

"What the hell is going on here?" Samuel demanded, bursting into the room.

It didn't take a genius to figure that out, Sam thought. Dean was shirtless, with unbuttoned jeans and he had pinned a very red-faced Christian to the wall. Meanwhile, Arlene was hastily putting on her own clothes. Clearly, losing Lisa hadn't made Dean lose his touch with women.

"Let him go." Arlene shouted, her voice muffled from behind her top.

Immediately Sam rushed forward, pulling Dean off the irate husband.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." Christian shouted, trying to get around Sam and at Dean. Samuel stepped in his way, holding him back.

"You gonna let him talk like that about your daughter?" Dean smirked at Samuel.

Ignoring any implied jab at his daughter's character, Samuel concentrated on keeping the two apart.

"What the hell were you doing, Dean?" He asked angrily; even though, by now he had figured it out as well.

"Just helping Chris here out." Dean said. Looking at the confused faces around him, he explained. "What? You all have been saying how much these two want kids. Clearly Christian here is not man enough for the job. I thought my swimmers could get the job done where his failed."

It took both Sam and Samuel to hold Christian back from his re-invigorated efforts to attack Dean, while the object of his ire calmly finished putting on the rest of the clothes.

"So, how did the hunt go guys?" Dean said, tying up his shoe-laces. "I'm dying to hear all about it."

* * *

"This is how you ingratiate yourself with your family?" Samuel shouted at Dean. "You sleep with your cousin's wife?"

Sam, Samuel and Dean were in the room that passed for his office, while Samuel railed at Dean. This was like a scene from their family, Sam thought, except then it was Dad doing the shouting and Sam doing the shouted at.

"It was a mistake, okay." Dean said, not looking the least bit guilty. "We got talking, we were both drunk, one thing led to another. You know how the story goes."

"Except, you are never out of control when you are drunk." Sam said. "You always know exactly what you are doing."

"What did you expect?" Dean shrugged. "You leave me behind with two hot chicks. Had to sleep with one of them. I have a reputation to maintain, you know?"

"Alright, that's it." Samuel slammed his hand hard on the desk. "You, get out of here. I don't care if you are Sam's brother, I don't care if you are Mary's son. I never want to see you again."

"What?"

"You heard me." Samuel said. "After this, you obviously can't work with either of them. It's you or them. Guess which one I'm gonna choose."

"Fine." Dean said, getting up. "Sam. Pack your bags. We are out of here."

"Sam stays." Samuel said. "Sam, you want your soul back, you have to work for Crowley. You have to stay with us."

"Sam." Dean said, watching Sam hesitate. "You choosing these guys over me?"

"I don't have a choice here, Dean." Sam replied. "Crowley's got my soul, so I have to stick around. You kind of brought this upon yourself."

"Samuel, don't do this." Dean said, turning back towards their grandfather.

"Don't tell me what to do, Dean." Samuel replied. "This is my ship and I get to decide who stays on it."

"Except, it's not really your ship, is it?" A voice said from behind Samuel. Crowley, in his usual manner, had dropped in the middle of a conversation. "It's my ship and I get to decide. And my decision is, Dean stays."

Samuel looked angrily from Crowley to Dean.

"You said I get a free reign in the operations." He snapped at Crowley. "I get to make the decisions."

"Things change." Crowley replied. "Or they don't, which is the problem here. You have been working for me for a year and I see no progress. You are wasting precious resources. Dean here thinks, and I agree, that it's time for a change in management."

"You went over my head?" Samuel turned towards Dean.

"Don't blame the boy. A lot goes over your head nowadays." Crowley said. "I'm just here to officially give the notice of your demotion and Dean's promotion. From now on, Dean will take the lead in finding purgatory for me and the rest of you will follow him. Don't look so down gramps." Crowley put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Knowing Dean, he'll give a plenty of chances to backstab him."

A moment later, once again it was just the three of them in the room. Dean walked around Samuel to his desk and sat down on the chair, arrogantly putting his feet on the table.

"So, it looks like I'm staying after all." He smirked. "This werewolf you caught, I think I'll try to get some stuff out of him. Samuel, why don't you run along and scrounge up as much silver as you can."

Samuel kept glaring daggers at Dean while Sam looked at Dean with something akin to respect.

"The boss has given his orders." Sam said, ushering Samuel out of the room.

* * *

"I can't believe we are working for that asshole now." Christian said, pacing around the room. Sam didn't even bother dignifying the outburst with a response and left his grandfather to deal with it.

"Calm down Christian." Samuel said soothingly. "Let him have his moment in the spotlight. It'll be over soon enough and then he'll be out of our lives for good."

"You think?"

"Dean might be good at the mind games but he is nothing special when it comes to hunting." Samuel explained. "He's brash and reckless. He's bound to screw up sooner or later."

"You shouldn't under-estimate Dean, you know?" Sam said looking up from his research. "People have been doing that his whole life, but in the end, he comes out at top."

"You saying he is a better hunter than us?" Samuel asked.

"I'm saying he's a better hunter that you give him credit for." Sam answered. "You said it yourself; he wasn't willing to do what it took. Now apparently he does. He hasn't screwed up in the last week, has he?"

It was true. Immediately after getting his promotion from Crowley, Dean had taken off alone on a hunt, apparently. He had left them with instructions to soften the werewolf up for him, to get any information they could. So far, they'd gotten nothing, not even a groan from out of the creature. As pecking orders went, this one was pretty high up in it. Unlike, newly created werewolves, he could transform at will and his transformed form was much more animalistic and lupine than any they'd seen before. And while usual werewolf stuff like silver harmed him, it was not enough to get him screaming in agony.

"Well, I don't know what your brother thinks he can get out of that thing inside." Christian said. "We have been working over it for a week, while your brother was off doing God knows what and we haven't heard a peep out of it."

As if on cue, screams started coming from the direction of the shed. Apparently Dean had succeeded in an evening where the rest had failed for a week.

"You probably loosened it for him." Sam smirked.

They sat quietly listening to the screams for a few minutes when Gwen came in, looking pale. She had the unhealthy green pallor of a person who had recently thrown up.

"Can I have a drink, guys?" She said, sitting down on the closest available chair.

"What happened? Thought you were helping Dean out with the werewolf." Samuel asked, while pouring her one.

"He told me to leave when he saw that I was about to throw up." Gwen explained. "Said he didn't need us looking weak in front of the enemy. And thank God for that. I'm not sure how much more I could have taken. The things he's doing in there - ."

"Huh." Samuel mulled it over. "Sam, why don't you go in there to help him out? You don't have a soul, so it shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Dean said that no one should disturb him." Gwen interjected.

"Just, go see if he needs anything."

"You want me to help you in back-stabbing my brother?" Sam asked.

"No one's back-stabbing anyone, Sam." Samuel explained. "Just want to make sure that Dean isn't taking it too far. But you raise an interesting point. When the chips fall, whose side do you want to be on, Sam?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, your brother is doing all this to get your soul back." Samuel said. "But I don't think you want it back, do you?" Sam said nothing. "Thought so. So you gotta ask yourself, who should you trust? Your brother who'll probably kill you as soon as he finds out that you like being soulless, or us, who don't care about that stuff?"

"I'll just see if Dean needs anything." Sam said, getting up and walking out of the room.

* * *

If he had a soul, he'd probably be throwing up on the floor right now, Sam thought. The room was a mess and the smell itself was enough to make a man's stomach revolt. What was truly horrifying, was the condition of the man strapped to the table. The werewolf was bleeding all over, courtesy of Dean and everyone who had been in there before him. Patches of his skin were missing from all over the body and shining silver powder was sizzling over the open wounds. There was a gaping hole where his lips once had been. They were now cut out, leaving his bleeding gums bared. Bleeding, Sam realized, because Dean had pulled out most of the fangs from his mouth. And what Sam had assumed to be werewolf eyes after transformation, was actually molten silver. Dean hadn't gouged it's eyes out, he had poured silver over it and was letting it eat its way through the skull.

"Is that what got him screaming?" Sam said, mildly curious.

"No. That would be the silver nitrate I injected in his blood." Dean replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you needed any help." Sam replied.

"I'm fine. Thanks." Dean said. "I got this covered. Get out of here."

"The Campbells aren't happy with you being in charge, you know?" Sam said conversationally. "I think that right now they are planning something to bring you down."

"I would expect nothing else." Dean replied. "Sam, if you want to help me, then go derail whatever they are planning."

Sam shrugged and walked out without another word. Dean thought he could handle everything on his own, but Sam knew that his brother was wrong. He just wasn't sure that when Dean went down, whether he would be going down with him.

"I'm so sorry about that." Dean said turning back to his victim. "My brother just doesn't know when he's not welcome."

"Please – please stop." The werewolf slurred through a broken mouth. "I'll tell you anything. Just please stop this."

"And we were having so much fun." Dean smiled. "Sorry, Lassie, but there isn't anything I want to know from you. All this – it was just a show for my friends."

"Please – no." He continued pleading, apparently not even listening to Dean anymore. "I don't know where our father is, but I have his blood. He has been building an army of pure-breeds. And his blood can be used to turn people as much as the bite. And these would be stronger, werewolves, those who could turn when they wanted. His – his blood was with my stuff back where your friends got me. It might still be there."

"I could use that." Dean said. "But don't tell me anymore. I really don't want to regret killing you."

"Please, I can give you a lot more."

Dean used an empty container that had previously contained the silver nitrate and collected some of the creature's blood in it.

"Sorry, Cujo." Dean said, positioning his silver knife over the thing's chest. "I got all that I needed from you."

* * *

"It's a lead, Dean."

"It's a blog entry." Dean said back to Christian. "A blog entry on weird dreams about a man who thought he saw a naked man turn into a family pet. It's weak."

"Well, I think that it's worth pursuing." Christian argued. "And since you killed the last Werewolf we brought in, this is all we have to go on."

"Fine, I'll look into it." Dean said, scrolling through the article. "Okay, you are right. This might be worth checking out. So, which one of you wants to take it?"

Dean looked around at the occupants of the room. Sam, Samuel, Gwen, Arlene and a few others were just sitting around, busy with their own thing. None of them gave any indication that they had even heard him.

"Well – we were thinking, since you have been out of the field for so long, maybe you should take it." Samuel said, looking up from the newspaper. "It shouldn't be too much for you to handle."

"Okay." Dean said suspiciously. "Where is this thing? In Chicago? I guess I'll head out in a few days. This thing's not going anywhere."

"Why wait?" Gwen piped in. "I mean, Crowley does have you on a schedule, doesn't he?"

"Jeez, fine." Dean answered, getting up. "I'll go. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you all were trying to get rid of me."

"And Dean, can you leave Sam behind?" Samuel asked. "We are doing some research on skin-walkers and Sam is good at that sort of thing."

"Sure." Dean answered and walked out.

It was happening already, Dean realized as he packed his duffel. The coup, the rebellion, whatever you might call it, they were starting with it and in a most obvious way. And apparently, he had no one watching his back.

"Dean, it will be fine." Sam said from behind him. "You can do it on your own."

"I know Sam." Dean replied. "That's not what I'm worried about. Tell me, how many skin-walkers do you think you will bag while I'm gone?"

"What?" Sam stiffened.

"All the hurry to get me out of here. They don't care about me catching the small fry, they want me out of the way so that you guys could go on your hunt in Atlanta." Dean replied. "People should really learn to clear their web history."

"You weren't supposed to know about that." Sam said, looking away.

"You weren't supposed to lie to me about that." Dean replied. "But this is good Sam. I finally know whose side you are on."

"Dean, I'm on your side." Sam said. "I really am. I'm just pretending to be on their team so that I can watch out for you. This one hunt isn't gonna change anything."

"It will. It already has." Dean replied. "See you in a few days time."

* * *

"Where the hell are you, Dean?" Sam shouted over the phone. "You should have been back by now."

"And hello to you too." Dean replied. "You bag any alphas?"

"No, just four walkers high up the food chain. We need you to interrogate them because we are not getting anywhere."

"Sam, can we talk about this when I get back?" Dean said. "I'm kind in middle of a business lunch right now."

"What? With whom?" Sam asked. "Where are you."

"At a pizzeria." Dean replied. "You don't come to Chicago and don't get a pizza. Talk to you later, okay?"

Cutting his cell off, Dean turned back towards his companion who was looking decidedly irritated.

"Sorry about that. Little brothers, y'know." Dean explained. "So you were saying?"

"I was saying, how humiliating it is to be summoned here by a maggot like you and I see no reason to let you continue with your life."

"And after I'm treating you with pizza?" Dean said in mock outrage. "Okay, okay, no more kidding. Look, I'm here to make a deal. I know that a lot of things are getting into the business of acquiring human souls. And I'm guessing, who else would be on the front of the line than Death himself."

Death considered Dean for a moment, as if undecided whether to just kill him now or explain the reasons of killing him. The smell of freshly arrived pizzas helped him make up his mind.

"I'm not in the business of acquiring souls, Dean." Death replied. "Unlike other things, I don't derive any power from them. Neither do any of the Gods for that matter."

"Oh." Dean seemed disappointed. "So what, you are just a way to get them to heaven or hell."

"Heaven? Hell?" Death scoffed. "Please. They are just temporary storage areas. They are not the final resting place."

"What?"

"Every soul has a claimant on it Dean." Death explained. "When demons get a claim on your soul, you go to hell, when angels do, you go to heaven. Unclaimed souls become ghosts. The work of a reaper is to get the soul to its right place."

"Which is where?"

"Imagine like a huge tankard of water." Death continued. "All of it can be said to be a single entity. But when you separate it into drops, each of them becomes a single entity as well. Souls are like that. Drops of water coming from a single source and there they must return. That is the reason why Gods exist. I'm not talking about the small fries who take sacrifices and control weather. I'm talking about true Gods, ones with the power of creation. They can create souls out of that mass of energy and it is the job of death to get it all back. Once they are back, no angels, or demons can bring it back to life. That is true death."

"Bang up job you are doing so far." Dean commented. "As far as I know, most of the people end up either in heaven or hell."

"In my absence, my workers have grown weak and incompetent." Death answered regretfully. "They have let too many souls slip through their fingers. Too many unclaimed or falsely claimed beings roam around. Those that they do get to in time, they now have to beg them to come with them, instead of forcing them like they should be able to. Trust me Dean, I have a lot of catching up to do."

Dean mused over the words for a moment, while Death ate pizza. This had not been part of his plan. But maybe, just maybe, this would work out even better.

"So, the reason I called you is that I need your help with something." Dean said and saw the other raise his eyebrows. "I don't know what it is yet or when I will need your help, but sometime, I'll call upon you and I want your word that you will help me out then."

"And why would I do anything like that?"

"Because, I stopped the apocalypse for you?" Dean replied. Watching no change in Death's expression, he continued. "Yeah, didn't think so. So, what about this?" Dean placed a vial of reddish liquid on the table.

"This is Enochian spell-work." Death said, picking up the vial and looking at it closely. "A spell lost even to most of the angels. It's impressive how you got your hands on it, but I fail to see this be of any use to me."

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it." Dean said. "No, seriously, try it. Drink it."

Still looking suspiciously at Dean, Death drank the contents. Dean was disappointed when he saw no change in Death's demeanor, he hadn't even blinked. Probably this thing didn't work on Death.

"Interesting." Death said after a few moments. "Yes, this is certainly very useful. I never imagined that this spell could be used in this manner. Thank you Dean, this was very helpful."

"So, we have a deal?" Dean sighed in relief.

"I'll do you one better." Death replied taking out his scythe and putting it on the table. "Keep it. I guess you can use it in your line of work. I'm always connected to this thing, so when you have a need for me, I'll come. But this is a once in a lifetime only card."

"I get it." Dean said, picking up the familiar rusted weapon. "Thanks. You won't regret it."

* * *

Things were going according to his plan – better than he had planned actually, Dean thought as he drove into the Campbell compound. Dealing with death had been risky and he had had nothing to go on than a hunch. But lady luck had finally smiled at him and even though his initial supposition had been wrong, the alternative was so much better. Now he wouldn't have to try and go after death when it was all over. One down, two more deals to go.

The Campbells would be a problem, he knew. Even now they probably were plotting something against him, now that they had caught some skin-walkers on their own. Unsurprisingly, Sam had chosen to side with them. Well, he wouldn't let any of their antics throw a cinch in his plans. His plans almost completely didn't require their help or Crowley's. As he had expected, Dean found Crowley waiting for him with Campbells and Sam when he got inside and the Campbells looked smug for some reason.

"Conference call, is it?" Dean asked walking in casually and pouring himself a drink.

"Yes." Crowley replied good-naturedly. "So, you enjoy your long trip. I hope the stupid business of catching the monster didn't get in your way."

"Not at all." Dean answered. "Got something for you. A skin-walker. Not very high up on the food chain, mind you."

"One skin-walker?" Crowley stood up scowling. "You took more than a week to catch one measly skin-walker, while the rest of your people got me four in less than that time? I'm really beginning to rethink my decision to put you in charge."

"Well, if you look at the ratio, I still come out at the top." Dean replied. "Look, I wanted to take the rest of them on this trip, but they were so obsessed with their other hunt that they missed out on this lead."

"What lead?" Christian piped in. "I just gave you this piss-ant hunt to get you out of the way."

"Elders are talking here." Dean said, without looking at him. "And this wasn't just any skin-walker. Christian here didn't do his research very well. I found out that a man matching the description of the naked guy the blogger saw in his home, that is they were both naked, had a beard and a weird scar over their eye like the pet dog, was hit by a car a few days ago. Technically, dead on the scene. Then the paramedics shocked him back to life. Who knew, huh? Skin-walkers can become roadkill. They are more like humans than you can imagine."

Dean ignored the general sound of scoffing that passed around in the room.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Crowley sneered.

"You are not thinking, dude." Dean replied. "Tell me, who better to tell you the location of the purgatory than something that's already been there, for all of sixty seconds."

Whatever snide remark Crowley was going to make died on his lips as his eyes widened in interest. Dean had him and he knew it. Looking around the room, Dean knew that he had others as well.

"Has he told you anything?" Crowley asked.

"No." Dean replied. "And I don't think he remembers. But you must have a lot of mind-readers and psychics who can work him over. Why don't you let them ferret it out of him?"

"I'll do that." Crowley answered. "Keep him and the rest of them tight for a few days, will you? I'll pick them up once I have everything in place. Good job, Dean. As for you," Crowley turned towards Samuel. "Make sure that the next time you call me here, you are not putting your foot in your mouth."

Everyone sat silently for a few minutes after Crowley disappeared. The Campbells did not like being one-upped. He wondered for a moment if they would all kill him right there and if Sam would put up any kind of attempt to help him.

"So, a brought-back-to-life skinwalker, huh?" Samuel said. "Nice catch."

"Hey, Christian did all the work." Dean replied. "He was the one who found all the articles. He just had no clue what he was looking at."

"You could have told us." Sam said.

"And take away your chance at backstabbing me? No." Dean mocked. "Since I'm still in charge for now, Chris, why don't you go and get that thing out of my trunk. You and Arlene can stand guard over them tonight. It'll give you some time to work on your marital issues."

It was obvious that Christian had to physically restrain himself from attacking Dean right there. Nodding curtly, he walked out of the door. Everyone else just dispersed without a word. Everyone, except for Sam.

"You could have told me, you know?" Sam said walking up to him. "I would have kept it a secret for them."

"Trust you, huh?" Dean replied. "That hasn't worked out for me in the past."

"I know. Dean, since I don't have a soul, the only thing I'm worried about is my survival. I thought that my best chance was with them. But I get it now, it's with you. You are the one who is most capable of protecting me."

"How generous of you." Dean sneered. "But don't think that I still want to, Sam. Don't believe that it's not too late for you now."

* * *

Everything was coming along nicely, Dean thought. His plan was progressing and no one had a clue about his real intentions. The Alpha-hunt that Crowley had them on, he had no idea how it was working out in Dean's favor. He still had a long way to go, though, Dean thought as he looked into the little box he had kept hidden below the backseat of his car which contained little vials of blood from monsters, all neatly labeled. There were still too many variables. He would have to convince _her_ to do this for him and he didn't even know if she could. But all in all, it was going well. Things were different now that he wasn't doing regular hunts. He could, for once, focus on the matter at hand. If he hadn't been so distracted by the whole saving people shtick back when yellow-eyes was around, he could have killed him long ago. Dad had never realized what Dean could do if he set his mind to it. Too bad he wouldn't be around to see that.

This plan wasn't all that likely to succeed, Dean knew that. By now he had only collected the blood of a handful of Alphas. The vampire and werewolf had been the easiest. He had gotten his hands on the ghoul, siren, lamia, ookami, shapeshifter and revenant alphas as well. The skin-walkers would probably be the next. By now he had collected some thirty odd Alpha blood samples by now. Most of the things had escaped or were just too strong to capture. Others, he had let escape because catching them would mean furthering Crowley's plans. Others yet had been killed. All in all, it was surprising how Crowley still believed that Dean was working for him. Besides, not all monsters had Alphas, he'd learned that much. The Wendigoes were simply mutated humans and some of the others, like Rakshasas, were too ancient to have one. But still, even if he could get the ones he collected, it would strike a major blow at all things supernatural.

"Little busy here, Cas." Dean said as he heard a flutter of wings behind him and hurriedly put the box back in the car. "Can you come back later?"

"Really, it's offensive how you can't tell us angels apart." A British accent said from behind him. "It's like we are Chinese."

"Balthazar." Dean said, turning around. "Finally showed up, huh? I've praying for weeks."

"I know." Balthazar replied. "I heard you. Don't know why you called me though. We didn't exactly part on the best terms last time."

"Don't worry, this isn't a trap." Dean assured.

"I made sure of that before I came." Came the reply. "So, what do want from me Dean?"

"You still in the weapon trade business?" Dean asked, although he already knew the answer. "Tell me, how much is one of your WMD's worth these days."

"For you Dean, a hundred souls." Balthazar replied.

"And how much is that in monster souls?" Dean asked. "You know, vampires, werewolves and the like."

"I've never traded in those before." He answered, thinking it over. "But they are pretty close to human souls. So, I'm gonna say, let's see, two hundred."

"Done." Dean said. "I'm gonna need something from you. I think it's called the Key of Solomon. Looks like a ring and controls angels."

"Wait a minute." Balthazar interrupted. "You are telling me that you will give me two hundred souls? That's impossible Dean. Even if you knew how, you couldn't have collected them in your life of hunting."

"I'm not." Dean replied. "I don't actually have the souls in my possession."

"I don't give credit either." Balthazar said. "I'm not going to just give you the ring in the hope that you'll keep up your end of the deal."

"I don't expect that." Dean answered. "The souls are ready for delivery, you just have to go pick them up. I think you can manage that on your own."

"You know of some place that has two hundred souls, untouched and unmarked by any others?" Balthazar asked disbelievingly.

"Sure do." Dean replied, taking out a vial of reddish liquid from his jacket and twirling it around. "How many souls do you think are there in the Purgatory?"

"You are joking." Balthazar replied. "The location of the purgatory has been lost for millennia. Not even Michael knew of it. There is no way a lowly human like you could have found it out."

"Haven't we learned our lesson about underestimating humans yet?" Dean asked. "I know where the Purgatory is. Or atleast I can tell you. So, do we have a deal or not?"

"You are giving me the whole purgatory for one measly ring?" Balthazar mocked. "And I thought that getting just one year for Sam was the low point of your business sense. Fine, you have a deal." Balthazar disappeared for a moment and then reappeared and gave a ring to Dean. "Here you go. Now, care to keep up your end of the bargain?"

"Not so fast." Dean said, putting on the ring. "Tell me something, what's to stop me from using this ring and making you kill yourself right now?"

"That would be very unsporting of you, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would." Dean agreed. "But not out of character. You would never hand it over if it could do something like that. C'mon dude, hand over the instruction manual."

Balthazar sighed. "The ring just gives you a measure of control over an angel's grace." He explained. "You can summon an angel using it, but that's about it. You try making him do your bidding and they'll most probably kill you on the spot."

"So, it can't actually control angels?" Dean asked.

"Not really, no." Balthazar agreed. "And try not to summon any dead angels with that thing. The last guy who did that was turned into a shish-kabob."

"Why?"

"An angels grace is never lost Dean." Balthazar answered. "It's left in the world, scattered around. So when you call upon a dead angel, all that grace comes rushing to you. You have any idea what that much energy can do at one place."

"So you are telling me that apart from summoning angels, this thing is pretty much useless and a health hazard?"

"Told you that you made a bad bargain, Dean." Balthazar smirked. ""But a deal's a deal. No take-backs."

"I know." Dean said. "Here, drink this." Dean handed over the vial to the angel.

"What's this?" Balthazar said looking curiously at the liquid inside.

"The location of the Purgatory." Dean replied. "It's an ancient Enochian spell which traces the soul of a person if you have the body. It contains the blood of a recently deceased werewolf. Ergo, when you drink it, you'll know where the Purgatory is as well."

"That's impressive." Balthazar said. "Especially for a human. Tell me Dean, how many more are you going to sell this information to? Because this truly is very valuable and I don't want any competition when I get there."

"There won't be." Dean assured. "I'm not gonna give this to anyone else. I promise."

"It looks like you are telling the truth." Balthazar judged after looking at Dean shrewdly. "Alright, nice doing business with ya. Enjoy your – ring."

* * *

Crowley was furious. In Dean's opinion, he looked even madder than he had when Lucifer was on his ass. To be fair, the man had sported the haggard look of a hunted man even when he had arrived to pick up the prisoners.

"You let them escape?" He shouted at Dean. "How could you let them escape? Four skinwalker, three of whom knew the location of their Alpha and one of whom probably knew the location of the Purgatory and you let them get away from right under your nose."

"It's not my fault." Dean defended. "Christian and Arlene were supposed to be guarding them. They are the ones who let them get away."

"Then it's your fault for putting those incompetent buffoons there in the first place." Crowley replied. "You know, I'm this close to just ripping you apart right now."

"Will you relax." Dean said. "We'll get them back."

"Yes you will." Crowley agreed. "You know why? Because you won't be in charge to screw it up any more. Try not to look so happy the rest of you." Crowley said to the rest of the room. "Humans. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you all let those things go on purpose just to screw over Dean."

"None of us would do that." Samuel defended. "We won't risk the operation like that. Besides, Dean was the one who made sure that they were secure."

"Did he now?" Crowley said, looking at Dean. "I know that you guys didn't do it, because you know what'll happen if you screw me over. Dean here is the only one stupid enough to pull something like this off, but he'd kill them before letting them escape. Which leaves just you, Sam."

"I didn't let them go." Sam said. "Really, I wasn't even anywhere near them the whole time."

"It wasn't Sam. Trust me." Dean added.

"Guess, we'll never know, will we?" Crowley replied. "One thing is for certain, your time on the top is over Dean. Time to step down now."

"C'mon Crowley, we both know the truth." Dean said. "You never intended to keep me here in the first place. You were probably looking for the replacement the moment you put me in charge. You actually have nothing on me. All you can do is threaten Sam and you know that that will take you only so far."

"True." Crowley smirked. "I was hoping to get something else to blackmail you with. But you have been quite the loyal employee Dean."

"So who is it?" Dean asked. "Who is taking my place now? I know it's not Samuel, because you already tried that and it got you nowhere. Gwen became the mother of an Antichrist. Christian and Arlene let your best ticket to the Purgatory get away. And Sam is still following my lead, if only on the surface. The others, they don't even qualify. So who will it be?"

"None of you. I'm bringing some fresh talent from outside." Crowley replied. "You can come in now." He shouted at the door.

The man, who had apparently been listening to the whole conversation from the outside, stepped in, sending all the occupants in the room into a stunned silence. He hadn't changed a bit since Dean had last seen him. The same scraggly, unshaven scruff covering the face, the stoop of the shoulders as if carrying the weight of the world, the weary smile and tired expression on the face. None of it had changed a bit.

"Who the hell are you?" Christian asked, stepping forward.

"Dad?" Sam and Dean said in unison.

"Hello, Sam. Dean." John Winchester replied.

* * *

Okay, Ch3 done. I was gonna take the story further, but this seemed like such a perfect point to end it. A few comments though. I know I used the ring of Solomon and the Scythe in my last fic as well, but those two ideas are like my favorite. The scythe just seems so much more powerful than the colt, being able to kill reapers and angels as well. I really think they should have explored the possibility of it killing Lucifer. As for the seal, it's from a childhood story by Rudyard Kipling (I think), where Solomon uses the ring to summon angels, demons, djinns and ifreets. I know the lore about it says that it could probably only summon demons, and in the show the seal is used as a devil's trap, so I'm depowering the ring a lot in this fic. Still, I'm going to give Dean a new and interesting way to use it. As for Balthazar's comment, I really meant no offence to any Chinese people, but in my understanding it is a running gag in America that all Asians look alike. Hopefully, since I know where the story is going next, the next chapter won't take so long. Review if you like it and review if you don't.


	4. Chapter 4 : Taste Of India

**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.

**Summary**: That man was his father, his hero, the one person he looked up to the most in his life. And with him coming back, so did everything that had made him weak and vulnerable.

**A/N**: The reason I brought John Winchester back was because I always thought that Dean was never able to get proper closure with his father. There were just too many issues left unresolved from the secrets to lies to the second family.

* * *

**Chapter 4. Taste Of India**

Balthazar had screwed up, Dean thought, he had screwed up so bad and he didn't even know it. He should have never traded in the ring for something so trivial as the location of the Purgatory, especially when it would do him no good. But then, he hadn't known the true extent of the ring's power. Dean himself was figuring most of it out, looking up ancient obscure texts and drawing interpretations from them that sounded far-fetched even to him. He had taken up testing his hypothesis on angels, not those on Castiel's side, he'd made fairly certain of that and so far he hadn't been wrong. This might be the moment of truth. Balthazar had been right about one thing though, the bargain had been a rip-off. He just had no idea who was ripping whom off.

"You arrogant snake." The voice made Dean aware of the fact that he was no longer alone on the cabin. "You dare command me to come to you?"

Raphael stood to the full height of his vessel, exuding power as thunder rolled outside. Dean had told Castiel that he would repay him, that he would help Castiel win his war, but now, standing before the Arch-Angel, Dean was suddenly not so sure that he would be able to see this through.

"Having second thoughts about facing me?" Raphael smirked. "You should not have come here alone. Though none of your human or demon friends would have done you any good, but now, they won't even know that you are dead. Well, it's too late now. The sigils you made as backup are all gone."

"You angels really like to talk, don't you?" Dean said stiffly. "I know that the last few I killed sure did."

"Oh, I know all about your little shenanigans, Dean." Raphael replied. "Your little trick of trapping angels in a ring of holy fire, momentarily suppressing their grace with that thing that Balthazar stole from us and then killing them with their own blade. The only reason I haven't ended you where you stand is because I thought it would be funny to see you try the same thing on me."

"Really?" Dean asked. "And here I thought it was because you wanted the ring yourself. And you know that it can only be given, not taken. Either way, you shouldn't have come here alone."

"But I didn't." Raphael replied, as the room filled with ten others, all wearing identical suits. "I know you humans very well now. You are like snakes. Deceitful, treacherous, bite-you-when-you're-not-looking snakes. So even if you somehow manage to subdue my grace and call Castiel for assistance, I have backup."

"So many of you just to kill one of me?" Dean said, backing up and gripping his Angel-blade tighter. "Bit of an overkill, don't you think?"

"Is that what you were going to use to kill me? Cute." Raphael said, pointing towards the blade. Dean's fist closed in on itself as the blade disappeared from his hands and into Raphael's. "It's not an archangel's blade, so it's useless. Really Dean, you should have prepared better."

Apparently in panic, Dean pulled out his gun and let off a shot on Raphael's direction. The bullet didn't even touch the angel, disappearing mid-air.

"A bit desperate, don't you think. I'm bored now." Raphael said. Raising his hand towards Dean, he snapped his fingers.

Dean flinched, fully expecting for a moment to be disintegrated, but nothing happened. Both of them looked around in surprise to find the other angels lying unconscious on the ground.

"It worked." Dean said his voice full of wonder. "I didn't think it would be able to knock out a room full of angels. I guess putting out an archangel was too much even for this thing, but atleast you can't use your mojo anymore."

"You have suppressed my Grace." Raphael said, shocked, looking down at his hands. "You won't get away with this, Dean Winchester. Even the Seal of Solomon can't suppress my grace for more than a few minutes and you may riddle me with bullets during that time but my grace will come back and bring me back to life and then, then I'll turn you to dust."

Dean looked at Raphael's empty hands. The angel had made the blade disappear before Dean had activated the ring. Smart. He clearly taken steps to counter every move he knew of Dean, to make sure that he didn't fall into the traps that other angels did. But he had, nevertheless, from the moment he had decided to appear before him rather than smiting from a distance.

"Yeah, I guess you will." Dean said, taking out Death's scythe from his jacket. He knew it had been a good idea to keep that thing as a last resort. "But I don't think you'll be coming back from this."

Raphael's eyes widened in fear as Dean advanced on him. Without his grace, physically, he was no match against Dean Winchester, he knew that.

"You are already too late." Those were Raphael's last words to Dean.

* * *

The screams of the Rugaru filled the shed as Dean Winchester carved out half of his liver for the third time. The thing wouldn't die, not unless it was burned to death and it always healed, albeit painfully and slowly and Dean never let it heal completely. Somewhere, between the screams, John thought he heard incoherent pleas mixed in.

"Dean, stop." John commanded, and noted to some satisfaction that his son still followed his orders in a flash. "So, you think you are ready to talk now?"

"Yes, please, just stop this." The Rugaru begged. "I'll tell you everything I know, just make him stop."

"Good." John said. "So, you can start by telling me all about your Alpha. Where can I find him?"

"I don't know."

"Dean - ."

"No, please, I swear I don't know." The Rugaru pleaded. "I swear. We just had our orders to go on the recruitment drive. You people are hunting Alphas now. He knows that it's important to stay hidden. None of us know where he is."

"He's telling the truth, Dad." Dean said from behind John. "Let's just hand him over to Crowley and get it over with."

"Wait. I still have some more questions." John replied. "What can you tell me about this recruitment drive? Why the hell are all of you freaks suddenly building an army?"

"That's not something Crowley cares about." Dean spoke up.

"Well, I care about it." John shouted back. "And that means you care too. These things are starting something up and if you are a decent hunter, you should care about that. So, buddy, keep talking."

"We are preparing for the war." The Rugaru replied.

"A war with whom?"

"We don't know. Hunters, I guess." It said. "All I know that our father has given a chosen few of us his blood and commanded us to create as many of us as possible."

"His blood?" Dean asked. "I thought you guys multiplied the old-fashioned way."

"We do." It replied. "But before we do it, we are supposed to drink our father's blood. It makes us more potent."

"Potent?" Dean asked, trying to conjure up the most innocent meaning of the word. "You mean powerful?"

"No, we – we become carriers of our father's blood itself. Any progeny we might have would be at par with the first of our generation."

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked.

"You humans don't understand. It's all about the blood. For each one of our kind, every shifter or skinwalker you meet." The Rugaru explained. "Our strength comes from our father's blood. The closer we are to him, the lesser the generational gap, the stronger we are. Our father needs stronger soldiers now. That is why he is bleeding himself, to create an army."

"He might be telling the truth there." Dean said to John. "The Djinns me and Sam hunted last week, they were carrying vials of blood too. I think those might have been from the Alpha as well."

"And you are just telling this to me now?" John shouted.

"Sorry, I – I didn't think it was important." Dean looked away and John turned his attention back to the creature.

"So, this war – who are you going to fight?" John asked.

"I already told you, I don't know." It screamed.

"You see my son there, he is just itching to get started on you once again." John said, pointing towards Dean. "So unless you want to lose your liver for the fourth time, I suggest you start talking." When the creature said nothing, John turned towards his son. "Dean."

"A prophecy, okay, there is a prophecy. About the coming war." The Rugaru screamed.

"A prophecy? By whom?"

"Our psychic."

"You guys have a psychic?" Dean mocked. "What she looks into her crystal ball and tell you what to have for dinner?"

"She is one of us." It replied. "It has been a practice among creatures of all sorts to keep a psychic among us, preferably one who can see the future. And there isn't just one, there are quite a few of them. Some creatures turn those with psychic powers, others create them with mating with the bloodlines. When the apocalypse came, all of them told us to lay low, because that was our best chance of survival. I'm guessing the same thing happened for all other of your so called monsters. Their psychics told the same thing."

"And now?" John asked. "What are they saying now?"

"The end. They are talking about the end and we are preparing to fight it."

"And you just happen to know about it?" Dean asked, disbelievingly.

"I was one of her guards when it happened, okay. I know that sometime in the early eighties, they first told of the possible destruction of our species. Then when the apocalypse was over, they told us that the danger was past, that this was the safest time for father to resurface and to reveal all of our true potential. Then, out of nowhere, five months ago to the date, they told us that the end was coming."

"You said you heard her." John said. "Tell me exactly what she said."

"She – uh – she said something like "He has awoken. The goddess has awoken him. The end has begun". "

"And afterwards?" Dean asked. "What did she say afterwards?"

"She didn't. They can't explain anything more afterwards. They don't even remember saying those words." The Rugaru replied. "But as far as I know, every psychic we have, every psychic every monster has, said the same thing."

"So you are creating an army against one man?" Dean asked. "Bit of an overkill, don't you think."

"One man? One man would never be able to kill all of us." It said. "Not even one God or one angel or demon could do it. Believe me, I've heard stories about them trying. Whoever this guy is, he'd need to throw everything humanity has at us to get us all and believe me, we'll be ready for that."

* * *

Dean thought that the Campbells should have looked more cheerful at the new. The monsters had been getting much stronger lately, bolder. To find out that all that had been a mask for their fears should have been a joyful revelation, but they took it with their usual worried glances.

"A destroyer to end their species." Samuel mused. "You thinking what I'm thinking, John? That they are talking about Sam?"

"What?" Sam exclaimed surprised.

"Well, you were born in early eighties." Samuel explained. "They said that the danger was past as soon as you fell into hell."

"But I came back almost right after." Sam countered. "Wouldn't that make their latest prophecy a bit late?"

"We don't know anything for sure Sam." John interrupted. "What were you doing about five months ago?"

"We were hunting the Goddess Psyche." Sam said, after spending a few moments jogging his memory. "But it was a clean hunt. No one got awoken or anything."

"Like I said, we don't know anything for sure." John said. "I know that it couldn't be me, I just came back two weeks ago and it couldn't be Samuel, he wasn't even alive in the eighties. Besides, right about the time he came back, they predicted that the danger was over. So I guess that was counter-productive. Who else was on the hunt with you son?"

"Well, Christian and Dean." Not Dean and Christian, Dean noted.

"Christian, when were you born?" John asked.

"1978." Came the reply.

"A bit early, but it could fit the timeline." John noted. "Anything happen to you on the hunt, son?"

"Guys, don't you think we are being a little egotistical here." Dean said testily. "The world doesn't revolve around us. It could be some random hunter on the opposite end of the world who died in the Apocalypse and was raised five months ago by some Goddess. Hell, it doesn't even have to be a hunter, it could be anything, an angel or one of their own who got turned and is out for revenge."

"Dean is right." Samuel conceded. "There is no telling who this guy is or where he is."

"Yeah, we need to find out more about this thing." John agreed.

"Why?" Dean asked. "What would be the point of that? Look, if this guy starts making big waves and sends out a call to other hunters, we'll answer it, but why go looking for him? God forbid that these creatures latch on to us and we clue them into his identity before he can actually do anything. There is no reason for us to hunt him down. Besides, we have our own jobs to do right now."

It took a moment for Dean's arguments to sink in but eventually everyone nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, it's back to the day jobs." John said.

"So what?" Sam asked. "Should we just go around finding Alphas?"

"Try collecting their blood." John replied. "The Rugaru told us that their Alpha had givrn them his blood to make better soldiers. Find out if other creatures are doing the same."

"What good would that do?" Dean asked.

"Well, Crowley said that there might be a spell that might help him track down the Alphas using their blood." John explained. "He hasn't got his hands on it yet, but he said he was close to it."

"A spell?" Dean said, feeling a bit nervous. "What kind of spell? Who's giving it to him?"

"No idea."

"Well, we might have some already." Sam piped in. "Remember the Djinns we hunted last week, they were carrying some of their Alpha's blood."

"I thought Dean destroyed all of it." Samuel said.

"He did." Sam replied. "But I kept one with me just in case. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Good job, son." John smiled proudly. "I like it, thinking outside the box. You could take a leaf out of his page, Dean. Okay then, we'll hand it to Crowley when he gets here. And guys, would you make sure that when Crowley sends his lackeys here the Rugaru is not falling all over the place, Dean carved him up pretty well." The other three nodded. "Good, see to it now. Dean, stay back. I need to talk to you."

Exchanging curious looks, Sam, Samuel and Christian walked out. The door had barely closed behind them when John turned on Dean.

"What the hell was that back there, Dean?" John asked, barely able to keep from shouting.

"What?" Dean was nonplussed. "I really think we don't have any reason to go after - ."

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it." John cut him off. "I'm talking about the things you did to that thing in there, torturing that thing. Where the hell did you even learn some of those things?"

Dean averted his eyes. He knew that this conversation was coming sooner or later. The story of one of his greatest failures, his breaking in hell. A thing which his new family never let him forget, even if he could.

"Jesus, Dean." It was surprising how John could put so much disappointment in just two words. "You were the one. You were the righteous man who started the apocalypse. How long did you last on the rack?"

"Dad - "

"How long Dean?"

"Thirty years." Dean replied.

"I spent the a hundred years getting tortured and you couldn't half of that?" John said angrily, but contained himself the very next moment. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. I guess that was more than I expected of you."

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"Don't be. Your mother was right. I should never have put you guys through this life."

"Mom? You met her?"

"Yeah, in heaven." John replied. "She was just like I remembered. I couldn't stay with her for long, though. She said, she could never forgive me for raising he children as hunters. And she didn't want to be with me anymore."

"Sorry to hear that." Dean said. "So did you see anyone else up there?"

"I met your brother Adam." John answered. "Michael sent him back after he got hold of his vessel. That's how I knew about the Apocalypse."

"Thank God for small mercies, huh?"

"Yeah." John replied. "You know, of all my sons, I would never have expected you to have made it intact for so long."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, I protected you guys the best I could." John explained. "But I always protected Sam and Adam over you. I didn't realize that you were the one who needed protecting the most."

Even when the bastard was seemingly saying nice things, he could still cut you to bits.

"You always lacked the focus, the drive, that's required for the hunt." John continued. "You never had the strength to make the right choice, or atleast stick with the one you made. You always looked to me or Sam to make those hard choices for you. Even Adam did any job he went for with full dedication."

"Is there a point to all this?"

"Yes, Dean. You need to hear the truth." John said forcefully. "You are old enough now and I can't watch your back forever and neither can Sam. You need to be stronger or you are not going to survive in this world much longer."

"Stronger? You know, Sam wanted to be stronger." Dean replied. "That was why he was sucking on that demon."

"I'm not talking about that kind of strength." John said. "I'm talking about the strength of spirit, of your very soul. Something that lets you make the hard choices in life. The kind of strength that lets you survive hundred years of torture in hell. The kind of strength that lets you overcome a demon possessing you or even Lucifer himself. That's the strength I'm talking about."

"And you think I don't have that in me."

"You didn't kill Sam when you were supposed to." John sighed. "You should have stopped him from releasing Lucifer and hundreds died because of that."

"You are saying I should have killed Sam when I saw what he could do?" Dean said, shocked. "Or that I should have let him stay dead?"

"Both of them would have been the harder choice to make and you chose to go with the easier option." John replied.

"It was the right choice." Dean countered. "We saved the world."

"Sam saved the world." John replied. "But really Dean, does the world look saved to you?"

"I'm trying to be stronger." Dean said. "After hell, I promised myself that I wouldn't torture again, but I'm doing it now, just so we can get some answers."

"Yeah, real brave, son." John said sarcastically. "Carving the truth out of a tied-up and helpless guy. Dean, letting yourself cross the line won't matter if you have nothing to show for it."

"Am I interrupting something?" Samuel said, leaning in at the door. He could sense the tension between the men in the room.

"No, we were finished here." John replied ."Dean, go see what your brother's up to."

Trying to appear as composed in front of his Grandfather, Dean walked out of the room and as he closed the door behind him, he heard Samuel say, "Everything alright?"

Against his better judgment, Dean hung outside the door, trying to overhear the discussion that he was obviously not considered fit enough to participate in.

"Everything's fine." He heard John reply. "Just having a heart-to-heart with my son."

"You worried about Sam?" Samuel asked. "About the whole Alpha destroyer thing?"

"Nah. Dean is right." John answered. "There is no way that that person is one of us."

"Dean, huh? He's a lot like Mary. She wasn't cut out for this life either."

"We'll get her back, Samuel." John assured. "We'll get her back and then we can actually hunt as a family. And Dean will help us through this. He wants nothing more than to see his mother again. You'll see, he is already falling in line."

"I've had a real tough time keeping him in line, let me tell you."

"You don't have to worry about him." John said. "If nothing else, Dean knows how to follow orders."

"But - "

Dad must have had a skeptical look on his face, Dean deduced.

"But I'm not sure that is enough anymore." John replied ."This is war, not just a hunt and wars are not really won by soldiers in the field, they are won by people behind them. Hunters shouldn't just follow orders anymore, they have to be more, they have to assert themselves. And it sounds like every time Dean does that, he ends up screwing things."

"You don't think Dean has what it takes to be a hunter in this world?" Samuel asked.

"I think there are three things necessary to be a good hunter – focus on the job, thinking outside the box and ability to make hard choices." John replied. "Dean, he gets too worried about collateral damage and people's lives to make those choices. He gets too distracted by women or food or just having fun to really focus on what's important. And since he has never shown any interest in research or strategizing part of things, opting to charge blindly instead, that I don't know how outside the box he can go. You know, I left him behind when I was hunting for yellow0eyes because of that. I realized these things then and I knew that he would end up getting killed or worse, taken hostage if I took him. I guess it's my fault for raising him like I did, but it's too late to change anything now."

"Well, atleast Sam turned out like you wanted." Samuel said.

"Yeah. I know that Dean wants Sam's soul back, but I'm not sure anymore." John replied. "Everyone keeps telling me how it will destroy him and I don't want to put my sin through that."

"Can I ask you something?" Samuel asked. "You seem like a practical guy, one who'll put the hunt first. If you weren't sure that Dean could do the job, why'd you save him? Why not just let him pass when it was his time?"

"He's my son." John replied. "Ofcourse I'd do anything to save him."

"C'mon. Be honest."

"I am being honest. You think I wouldn't do everything to save Dean if I could." Samuel must have still been skeptical because moments later John sighed and continued. "Look, I love Dean as much as you love Mary. I'd give up my life to save him any day. But, there was another consideration. When yellow-eyes possessed me, I could hear some of his thoughts. I heard some about Sam turning evil, but I never got the whole picture. But one thing just kept repeating over and over. HE was looking at Dean and kept thinking 'This is the guy who will kill me? This is the human who will end my life and bring all my plans to nothing?'. I kind of knew that he was afraid of Dean and that made Dean the best weapon we had against him."

Dean didn't wait to hear what Samuel's reply to that was. He left the hallway as fast as he could. He'd thought, he'd really believed that his life would change once his father was back. While he was in there, listening to his father's disappointment, he'd wanted so badly to spill his guts, to tell him all about his plans, just to get one look of approval from the man. But he was glad that he hadn't. He knew now that his father wouldn't approve, wouldn't be proud of him, no matter what he did. What his father preached, he would never survive seeing it in practice. Well, it didn't matter to him anymore.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked him as he entered the room they were sharing while at Campbells.

"Yeah, fine." Dean answered. Then, in a moment of emotional weakness he asked, "Sam, you would pick me, right? I mean, if it was me or the world, hell, if it was me or Dad, you'd pick me over everything else?"

"Dean, you know that I don't have a soul, so I really can't care about these things." Sam replied. "But I do trust you over everybody else."

"You do?"

"Ofcourse, man. You have always had my back."

The answer didn't reassure Dean like he had expected it to.

"You going somewhere?" Dean asked, seeing Sam put on his jacket.

"Yeah, Christian, Gwen and some of the other guys are heading off to a bar in the next town over." Sam replied. "Thought we could hustle some pool, pick up a few chicks. Just relax, you know."

"Uh, I was hoping we could stay in tonight."

"Yeah, I got a better offer." Sam said. "Look, I'd have asked you to come, but you don't exactly get along with those guys. Besides, you are still pining over Lisa."

"Yeah, you are right." Dean replied. "Go. Have fun. You have earned it."

Giving him a nod of goodbye, Sam walked out of the door and didn't see Dean smile to himself. It was like the clouds of doubt had cleared away from his mind. There was nothing holding him back anymore, Dean decided, and with the next step, he'd be too far gone to ever turn back, if he hadn't already.

* * *

Dean looked up at the dark and murky sky caring neither for the rain pelting his face nor for the thunder rolling all around him. It was near midday the next day, but with the storm brewing, it could be mistaken for an evening. It was a fitting place for a meeting, he thought, some distance away from the camp as much as it was a fitting atmosphere. Dean allowed himself to just be for a moment, not turning around when he felt another presence behind him.

"Its almost cathartic, this rain." He said to his companion. "It's like its washing away all of my past. Making me a new person you know."

Getting no response, Dean continued.

"It was raining the last time we met as well. Remember that, the big old storm. We were indoors at that time, but still, this seems to be your thing."

"You want to talk about weather?" Came a sardonic reply.

"Just thought you would appreciate the mood." Dean replied, turning around.

"What do you want from me?"

"I was gonna ask you if you can have that drink with me after all. After you so brutally turned me down last time." Dean said. "After all, having a date with the hottest Indian Goddess I've ever seen will be big for my reputation."

"Careful Dean." Kali said, warningly. "My gratitude towards you will only take you so far. I'm willing to hear you out but anything more would be impudent."

"Why did you answer my call anyway?"

"Like your angels, I hear all of my devotees' prayers." Kali replied. "It's up to me which ones to answer."

"I almost gave up on calling you, you know?" Dean said. "I was gonna call you weeks ago, but my Dad came back and I thought that all this didn't matter anymore."

"So what changed?"

"Nothing changed. That's the problem." Dean replied. "I'm still the weak, worthless Dean to all of them. I've changed so much over the last few months, done so much and none of them even notice. I know I must sound like a bratty kid to you, like Lucifer in a way, but really, all of them have just been using me towards their own ends. They all just keep taking from me and throw me away when they are done. Not just my family, but everyone, angels, demons, people, all of them. I'm done being their whipping-boy. I'm done just bending over and taking it. From now on, I'll decide what happens in my life."

"Seriously?" Kali asked. "You have called me all the way out here to listen to you pathetic drivel?"

"I thought that you of all people would understand."

"I understand alright." Kali replied. "But that doesn't mean I sympathize. Trust me boy, I know wrath and – what is that?"

Following Kali's gaze, Dean saw that his amulet had made its way over his shirt and he hurriedly tucked it back.

"That amulet, it should be unbearably hot in my presence. But it's not." Kali kept her scrutiny over Dean's chest, as if gazing right through his t-shirt. "It has got a soul bound to it. Your brother's soul. How did you get that back?"

"Parting gift from Death." Dean replied, his mind flashing back to his deal. Death, not being satisfied with remaining in debt to a human, had offered to get Sam's soul back, instead of upholding his promise to appear at Dean's time of need. He had tried to get Death to recant, said he didn't need Sam's soul, but that was all Death was willing to offer. That and his scythe.

"Why isn't it in him then?"

"Just waiting for the right time to give it back." Dean replied.

"This was what I was talking about Dean." Kali said. "I know wrath like no one else and I know that in the fire of your rage, you could end up destroying everything precious to you. Even though you might not believe that there is anything left for you in this world. Besides, all this rage is masking the true power of your soul."

"The true power of my soul?" Dean asked, confused.

"Your soul is unique, Dean. It's special. Not even the angels can see it, because they do not have the power to create souls. Only Gods can notice it." Kali explained. "It's not a supernatural power, it's something you see in great leaders and heroes."

"Wow." Dean said. "That's not cryptic at all."

"Your soul gives strength to other souls, Dean." Kali smiled. "I do not know whether your God designed it that way or it just happened, but people close to you always end up stronger for it. IT gives them the strength to overcome adversity." Dean looked skeptical. "Think about it. You were able to move the will of a roomful of Gods with your words. Your father and your friend, both of them found the strength to overcome possession while they were beside you. Your brother was able to overcome Lucifer. You were the source of that strength Dean and that source is being dimmed by all the rage and hatred."

"That's real special." Dean laughed. "It's fitting. Turns out, I was cosmically designed to be a doormat. Well, if that's the power of my soul or whatever, I'm better off without it. This thing hasn't done me any favors in all my life."

"Very well then." Kali said, bringing them back on the subject. "So what do you want from me?"

"I need a favor from you. A really big one."

"And why would I grant you that favor?" Kali asked. "Your role in the Apocalypse isn't good enough a reason."

"I figured. So, in exchange, I'm gonna give you this." Dean said, pointing towards the Seal of Solomon on his finger. "It's a ring that can control the grace of angels. It can summon them forcefully and completely suppress their grace, making them easier to kill."

"And why would I want something like that? Only the Arch-angels were a match for me, two of whom are dead and the other two are locked in a cage. None of the others even qualify as a threat."

"You should know better than everyone else that nothing stays buried forever." Dean said. "Lucifer and Michael, they will find a way out and this whole shebang will start again. It might be thousand years from now, it might be ten thousand, but whenever it happens, I'm guessing you will be around. And I guess you could use a little advantage over them."

"And what hoops do you plan to have me jump through for this?" Kali asked, considering the proposal.

"I want you to kill every other monster out there for me." Dean replied. "I want you to destroy every shapeshifter, every vampire, every werewolf and every other thing starting from their fathers."

"Oh?" Kali raised an eyebrow. "So you have heard of the prophecy that their psychics have been spouting. You believe yourself to be the destroyer? That's arrogant of you."

"No." Dean replied. "I came up with this plan long before I heard of the prophecy. And you are the only destroyer I know who is capable of such a thing."

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"I read up on you, you know, after we got away from that motel hell." Dean said. "About some sort of demon you fought ages ago. The way it went, for every drop of his blood spilled on the ground, a clone would rise in the battlefield. You defeated them all by drinking all his blood and not letting a drop spill."

"How disgusting." Kali replied. "That tale has been flanderized way beyond proportion."

"But it had something to do with the blood?"

"Yes." Kali agreed. "As long as I have the blood that runs through their veins, I can kill them all. But you ask too much of me. I'm not going to wander around the earth, looking for these animals, just as a security against something that might not happen."

"You don't have to." Dean replied. "I have collected the blood of all the Alphas I could find. I just need to get a few more. I just needed to make sure that you could do it. You can, right?"

"Yes, if I have the blood of the father of a species, I can eliminate them all. That much is within my power."

"So do we have a deal?"

"It appears so." Kali answered. "But tell me Dean, does your arrogance know no bounds? Is it that after I've done this for you, you plan to come after Gods?"

"If I do, trust me, my own God would be the first one on my agenda." Dean replied. "But if I survive the fallout, which is highly unlikely, I've others on my list."

"And you expect me to take your word for it?"

"No." Dean sighed. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. I need you because you are the only one powerful enough to do such a thing, whom I could actually convince to do it. If you feel like you can't trust me, here - " Dean rolled up his sleeve. "Take my blood. With that in your possession, I'd be bound to you. You could kill me anytime you wanted. I can offer no greater security than that."

Kali considered the proffered arm for a moment and then, giving Dean a slight smile, disappeared from the view, leaving him puzzled. He had offered the Goddess the only thing he could that would help her control him and she had refused. But she had accepted his deal. Her actions made no sense. Could it be that she still had his blood from their previous encounter? Or maybe there was some humanity left in Gods after all?

* * *

Dammit, it hadn't worked, Sam thought despairingly, their whole plan had been a bust. Two pairs of strong arms gripped him, leading him inside the cabin. Eyes watched him cautiously as three more came into the room, all of the creatures eager to watch the demise of the hunter who had dared to wander in their territory. Among those he found the ones belonging to the skinwalker that had escaped them, eyeing him with unadulterated hatred.

"Pretty stupid, walking in here." One of them, obviously the leader, walked up to him and held him by the jaw. "Though I should thank you for making it easier on us."

Sam glared defiantly. It wasn't often that he had to look up to someone, but this man stood almost a head taller than him.

"Though I have to wonder." It said. "Why would you sprinkle yourself with some of the most delicious smelling spices before coming here? Were you seasoning yourself up for us?"

Dean had sold him out, Sam realized. That bastard had said that the spices would cover his scent, that their smells were congruent with the woods, so the walkers won't notice his presence. This whole hunt had been a setup.

Sam cursed himself for choosing to side with Dean on the hunt. Well, to be fair, he hadn't exactly sided with Dean. Dean had come up with evidence that the skinwalker who had escaped might be hiding out in these woods and since three of the Alpha's top crew had escaped with him, there was a good chance of the Alpha being there. His arguments had been weak, a hunch at best, but he had stuck to them. Samuel had also come up with a location for the Alpha skinwalker and his research had been pretty solid. But Dean, that stubborn ass, had refused to back down. Sam had no doubt that the lead Samuel was following would lead him and the others here eventually, but by then it would be too late for him. Dean had served him up to them on a silver platter. With seasoning, no less.

"I'm here to offer you a deal." Sam said, thinking on his feet.

"Is that so?"

"I'm here alone, aren't I?" Sam bluffed. "Which means that if I wanted, I could have brought down a horde of hunters with me. But that would have ended in needless deaths on both sides. So instead, I'm making you an offer."

"Really?" The Alpha said. "And what exactly do you have to offer me?"

"Well, for starters, I can tell you that that guy over there knows the location of the purgatory." Sam said, jerking his head towards the escapee. "He knows something that has been the cherished secret for all you Alphas for centuries."

"What? No." The skinwalker shouted. "I don't know anything. How would I know anything like that?"

"He was killed and then brought back to life." Sam continued. "My boss really wants to get his hands on him. Well, maybe he does know, maybe he doesn't. Can you really trust him on that?"

"No, he's lying. He - " The walker was cut off as one of his comrades stabbed him with a silver knife. Clearly, the Alpha could communicate with his children without using words.

"Well, that's that." The Alpha turned back to Sam. "But I'm afraid that's not good enough. What else do you have for me?"

"Look, four of your of your men escaped from our prison. Do you really think they could have done it without help?"

The Alpha looked questioningly at the skinwalkers.

"The night we escaped, our bonds were surprisingly loose." One of them answered.

Sam felt a bit proud of himself for not looking surprised. He had been bluffing there, but someone had helped them escape that night. Most likely Dean. Because for all his competence, he had been very much a failure at capturing the Alphas.

"See?" Sam said. "Look, I know that your kind is being hunted by a demon for information. I know that because that Demon is my boss and he has got a lot more like me working for him. But I don't want to work for him anymore, so I want your help. Help me take him down and we both win here."

It was a desperate ploy and Sam knew that. His only hope was that somehow they would believe him long enough for Samuel or his father to come rescue him. He couldn't exactly depend on Dean right now. Even though his betrayal made no sense, Sam knew beyond a doubt that Dean had sold him out. His only fear was that Dean hadn't made any deals with these things beforehand, like when he had helped them escape. In that case all his words would count for little more than amusement material.

The cabin door opened and shut behind him, introducing two more skinwalkers. There were more than fifteen of them in the room right now and Sam felt his chances of survival getting slimmer and slimmer.

"Good, I was hoping you wouldn't kill him before we got back." One of them, a girl said.

"You are supposed to be on the watch." The Alpha growled.

"I made sure that there is no one around for miles, okay." The walker replied. Sam's heart sank. Dean hadn't even stuck around. "Unless they bring jets, they are not getting near in the next five minutes. Just one bite, okay and then I'll go right back out."

The Alpha's response was cut off when something crashed through the window, and the room started filling with smoke. The hands holding him still loosened and Sam turned to find the two skinwalkers on the floor, passed out. The same thing was happening to others as well, Sam realized, looking around the room. It was a tear-gas grenade, Sam recognized the pale-yellow smog when his own eyes started to tear up. Coughing and struggling to keep his air in his lungs, Sam stumbled out of the cabin.

Dean was smart, he'd have to give him that. He had used Sam as bait to make sure that all the skin-walkers would be inside. And as soon as the stragglers were in, he'd shot tear-gas inside. And for skin-walkers, with their enhanced sense of smell, tear-gas had been the best weapon. It had overpowered their noses and knocked them out, kind of like concentrated ammonia did to people, before Sam had even smelled anything. Well, atleast knocked most of them out.

The Alpha appeared beside him out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground.

"Well, that was a first for my kind, I'll give you that." He said, picking Sam up by the collar and punching him again. "Smart plan. Good thing that as the father, I'm stronger than that."

They both heard the sound of someone running through the woods and the Alpha turned towards it, holding Sam in front of him as a human shield. Dean appeared, running full-pelt towards them, holding his gun out.

"You are good." The walker complimented as Dean pulled his gun on him. "Even I can't smell you. Even at this distance. Tell me, what did you use to cover it up?"

"No point in that." Dean answered. "Sam, stay still, I'll get you out of this."

"Does human shield mean nothing to you people?" The shifter said, holding Sam almost upright before him. "What are those anyway, silver bullets? You'll have to do better than that. They can't kill me."

"No, but they will slow you down."

Dean fired his gun and Sam felt pain flare up in his chest. Abruptly, the Alpha let him go and fall bonelessly to the ground. He heard the skinwalker do the same behind him. Dean had shot him. His brother had shot the skinwalker through him. Sam tried to fight the approaching darkness as he heard his brother step over him towards the Alpha.

"What are you doing?" He heard the Alpha say. Sam tried to turn to see what the Alpha was talking about, but was too weak to do so.

"You can shoot me full of bullets but you can't kill me with those." It panted

"I know." Dean replied and a second after that, Sam's world sunk into darkness.

* * *

"This is unacceptable, Dean" John shouted. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"The Alpha needed to be killed, Dad." Dean replied, standing strong. "He was about to kill Sam."

"Screw the Alpha. I'm talking about Sam."

"The bullet went through his shoulder." Dean argued. "It was a clean shot."

The rest of the room watched silently as the father and son argued. Samuel and his troops had returned with the location for the Alpha only to find Sam and Dean had just been to that very place. Sam fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to get his sling in a more comfortable position.

"An inch lower and you would have pierced his lung." John said. "Another inch and it would have been his heart. Do you even care about that?"

"I'm a better shot than that and you know it."

"That is no excuse for risking your brother's life." John shouted. "You screwed up the hunt Dean. You used your brother as bait in the sloppiest manner I've ever seen and you didn't tell him about it. And then you didn't even bag the Alpha."

"Things would have been different if I had some of the others with me." Dean shouted back. "Then, I wouldn't have had to shoot the damn thing. But no, you were so convinced that I was wrong, that this was a wild-goose chase that you refused to let anyone else come with me. Hell, you refused to let Sam come with me. You'd rather that you all went to follow Samuel's lead than ever have any faith in me. This is your screw-up Dad, not mine."

"Am I interrupting something?"

None of them had noticed exactly when Castiel had appeared in the room or how long he had been there.

"No Cas." Dean said, breaking the glare-off with his father. "What do you want?"

"I come bearing grave news." Castiel said in his usual staid manner.

"As usual then." Dean replied. "What happened, things not good up there?"

"No, they are very good in fact." Castiel replied. "The civil was in heaven is over. We are trying to restore order now."

"You are kidding. What happened?" Sam said sitting up. "Last I heard, you were getting creamed by Raphael."

"I had help. Someone killed Raphael and some of his most powerful followers."

"What? Who?"

"I have no idea." Castiel said. "Whoever this being is, it is extremely powerful. Not just anyone could take out an archangel and his finest."

"Well, that's good news then." Dean said. "Free shots all around."

Castiel took a deep breath.

"Before Raphael's death, he set up a spell." Castiel said. "Something that channe;s the power of heaven into breaking Lucifer's cage. The cage was never meant to hold two arch-angels and I'm afraid that if this is successful, both Michael and Lucifer will roam free."

"You mean they will try to restart the apocalypse?" Samuel asked.

"No, it is much worse." Castiel replied. "Even though he is in hell, we all can still feel Michael's grace. We felt it when he fell."

"Fell?"

"As in he is a fallen angel now, like Lucifer." Castiel explained. "I believe that Lucifer convinced him to change sides when they were locked in together, perhaps his perceived betrayal by God helped. If they make it back up here, Michael and Lucifer would stand together and there is no force in universe that could stand before them."

"You are saying they would destroy earth completely?" Dean said, horrified. "Cas, we have to stop that spell from working."

"That is what I'm here about." Castiel replied. "The only way to stop the spell is by sealing off heaven itself."

"Great, let's do that."

"We are." Castiel replied. "Nothing unites the whole garrison better than the fear of the wrath of two arch-angels. But once we seal it off, it will be over Dean. Nothing gets in or out of heaven. I would never be able to come back to earth."

"What about the souls up there?" Samuel asked, thinking about Mary.

"Human souls can enter heaven as usual, but none can ever leave. Same goes for everything else up there." Castiel explained. "Once the doors are shut, angels won't be able to walk on earth for another millennia at the very least."

"So you are saying, this is good-bye." Sam said.

"Yes, I thought you both deserved atleast that much." Castiel replied. "That will be all then. Dean may I speak to you privately for a moment?"

"Sure." Dean shrugged and started walking out with the angel.

"Wait a second." John Winchester, who had been considering Castiel calmly until now, spoke up. "You are that angel right? The one who pulled Dean out of hell and has been watching over him ever since?"

"Yes."

"Thanks." John said. "Thanks for taking such good care of my boy."

Without replying, Castiel and Dean disappeared from the room. The others sat silently fro a few moments, staring at the empty spot where the two had been.

"So, Sam, did you find anything?" John asked, breaking the silence.

"Dean didn't have to kill the Alpha." Sam replied. "He had it down and could have bagged it, but he killed it instead. And Dean had helped the ones we caught escape. I think he tracked down the Alpha through them."

"Dammit." John cursed. "What the hell is he thinking? If Crowley finds out, He's gonna have Dean crucified."

"Dean's not afraid of Crowley. He – uh – hinted that he has something over Crowley."

"Hinted?"

"He said that Crowley wouldn't dare to threaten him." Sam explained. "I think he has gotten hold of Crowley's bones."

"That doesn't make any sense." Christian said. "If Dean has Crowley's bones, why hasn't he used them to get out of this? What the hell is he planning?"

"He isn't planning anything." John said confidently. "My son isn't one for grand schemes. He's jus bucking under authority. He's trying to screw Crowley over as much as he can without getting killed."

"I tried talking to him, Dad." Sam said. "He just lied to my face about everything."

"We can't worry about Dean right now." John replied. "If the angels are shutting heaven down, we need to get Mary out of there before they do it. We need to get the location of the purgatory for Crowley soon."

"How?" Samuel said. "We have been trying to do that for almost two years and we haven't gotten any close."

"Maybe there is another way." Sam suggested. "Dean won't tell us where, but if we can find the location of Crowley's bones, we can trade for it."

"Yeah, we should do that." John nodded. "Sam, go through Dean's computer when you get a chance and try to find out where he is hiding those bones. And keep an eye on your brother. Tell me if he does anything stupid."

* * *

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" Dean ranted. "Take care of me? You taking care of me? Like I'm some idiot who can't take care of himself."

"Dean - "

"He didn't say taking care of my sons." Dean continued. "Son, not sons. No, because Sam can take care of himself. I'm the one who is weak."

"Dean!" Castiel shouted.

"Oh, yeah." Dean turned towards the angel. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"How did you do it, Dean?" Castiel asked. "How did you kill Raphael?"

"I didn't." Dean answered. "What the hell made you say that?"

"Do not lie to me Dean." Castiel said. "Raphael was an Arch-angel, the highest authority in heaven. He might have been my enemy at the time but no angel would stand for him being killed by a human. If you killed Raphael, you will be barred from heaven forever."

"What makes you think I wanna go to that place?" Dean replied. "Anyway, I didn't do it. You said it yourself, something that could kill Raphael and his legion of doom would have to be unbelievably powerful."

"You might have found some other way. You are kind of good at that." Castiel said. "And I felt your presence at that place, some sign that you had been there. So tell me the truth, I need to know."

"Why?" Dean asked. "Raphael's dead. Can't you just leave it at that?"

But Castiel wasn't looking at Dean. His eyes were fixed on Dean's right hand.

"What is that?" Castiel asked, grabbing Dean's hand. "Is that the Ring of Solomon? Dean, is this you used to kill Raphael?"

"Guess there is no point in lying now." Dean said. "I did you a favor Cas. Raphael was kicking your ass all over heaven. I took him out for you."

"He wasn't your enemy to take out. Dean, give the ring to me."

"What? No."

"It is a weapon of heaven, Dean." Castiel said. "It belongs there. Once the doors shut there will be no way to get it back in."

"Sorry, Cas." Dean replied. "But it's already promised to someone else. I can't tell you any details, but I need this thing right now."

Castiel was standing very close to Dean now. Dean recognized that stance as the one Castiel used to intimidate humans. He had seen that look on his face a few times now, first time when Castiel had told him about the coming Apocalypse and last time when he had been about to say yes to Michael.

"This is not a negotiation. Give it to me right now."

"No." Dean replied matching the look with one of his own. "And you can't take it. It has to be given. Otherwise it loses its power."

"I would rather the ring be powerless that fall into wrong hands." Castiel said. "Do not oppose me Dean, it didn't end well for you last time."

"Yeah, how could I forget that?" Dean snarled. "You beat the crap out of me for being weak."

"Your weakness would have ended the world."

"But it wasn't just my weakness, was it?" Dean asked. "Sam's weakness started it all. You were weak when you gave into heaven's demand and freed Sam from the panic room. Why the hell was I the only one who ever gets punished for his weakness? I don't remember either of you getting the crap beat out of them."

"I couldn't have you failing me."

"Why not?" Dean countered. "You failed me first. Both of you. That was my one moment of weakness and instead of helping me through it, you beat me up and threw me in the basement."

"This isn't about that." Castiel growled. "Give me the ring, right now."

"If you want it, you are gonna have to take it from me."

Castiel swung his fist towards Dean, but it was caught mid-air. He looked shocked at it as Dean returned the blow with one of his own, throwing Castiel to the ground. Dean wasn't stronger, he realized, he had gotten weaker.

"This is how I got Raphael." Dean said, lifting Castiel up by his shirt and punching him again. "I suppressed his grace and then I finished him off." Another punch. "You know, I promised myself, I wouldn't be weak again. I wouldn't just bend over for anyone and everyone to screw me." Another punch. "Because everytime I let myself be weak, be vulnerable, someone in my life punishes me for it." Another punch. "First Dad, for a long, long time. Then Sam, Then Bobby. Then you. All of you are just waiting for me to screw up so you can take your frustrations out on me." Another punch. "Well, guess what? I'm stronger than all of you now. And none of you is ever going to hurt me again."

Their situations were reversed, Castiel thought, looking up at Dean with defiant eyes from the ground where he had been thrown. This time around he was the one lying on the ground, beaten and bleeding, while Dean looked on with wrath comparable to any angels. Castiel flinched as Dean took his blade and held it against his neck.

"We are even Cas." Dean said. "You helped me save my home and I helped you save yours. If I find any more of your weapons, I'll find some way to get them back up there. But the ring stays with me. Now go away. I never want to see you again."

Dean threw down the blade beside the fallen angel and turned to leave. He didn't look behind to see the final look of goodbye or to feel the final rush of wings when Castiel left. He had gone too far now and there was no turning back now.

* * *

Okay, fourth chapter over. Some comments on the latest episode. First of all, yay, Sam got his soul back. Finally. I know that many people are saying that soulless Sam made for good storytelling, but I really hated that Sam.

The show kind of surprised me a bit at quite some points. When I first heard the synopsis, I thought that when Dean became death, his final reap was going to be Bobby, who would just be about to be killed by Sam. And Dean would take off the ring and lose the wager, thus making Sam soulless for atleast a few more episodes. But I guess Dean wouldn't have learned his lesson in that case. Glad I was wrong on both counts.

About this story, I had come up with a few more ideas that I had wanted to implement. One was Michael and Lucifer actually getting out and working together. Second was Mary coming back herself, but brought back by Dean as a zombie to do his bidding and act as a spy. Third was Bobby finally catching the demon that possessed his wife, but Dean letting it go because it was one of Meg's camps and Dean thought Meg might help him bring Crowley down. But I'm pretty happy with where this is now. Almost all of his family and friends are either against Dean or they don't care and Dean is the same way towards them.

Well, like I said in the first chapter, I had no idea where the story would go and new ideas just kept popping in my head. I noticed that I left a pretty big plothole. In the last chapter I had Death promise to help Dean once and now I made it that Death gave Dean Sam's soul. Initially I wanted Crowley to return Sam's soul as a final act of desperation to save himself from Dean, but I thought it would be better this way. Sorry for the mess-up though.

Another reason I abandoned a lot of ideas is because a new story idea came to me. You know how it is, once a new idea comes up, it's hard to keep working on old ones. Still, I'm determined to see this one through before going for the new one. As usual, reviews will keep me writing.


	5. Chapter 5 : I

**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.

**Summary**: Today was when it was all going to end. Today, his revenge would be complete.

**A/N**: The reason I brought John Winchester back was because I always thought that Dean was never able to get proper closure with his father. There were just too many issues left unresolved from the secrets to lies to the second family.

* * *

**Chapter 5. I**

"You have a rotten soul." The demon snarled at Dean.

"Takes one to know one." Dean replied.

The demon struggled against his bonds, trying hopelessly to get free. Others of his group lay dead around the pentagram, one at each corner.

"Crowley will find out about this." The demon growled. "He will flay you alive for this."

"Don't worry." Dean said. "It will be too late for your boss by then."

Sparks flickered in the demons mouth and eyes as Dean finished him off with the scythe. That ought to do it, Dean thought, taking out a parchment with an ancient spell written on it. A spell to summon any demon in existence, requiring the sacrifice of five humans. Well, demons were near enough. As twisted and mutated as they were, they still came from humans. Reading the incantation, Dean dropped a lit match on the pile of sulpher and herbs.

"Haven't lost your touch, I see." Meg said for behind him. "You always were too much for a normal demon to handle."

"Meg." Dean said, casually turning around. He didn't have to worry about her, she couldn't touch him with him inside the devil's trap. "You came?"

"You left me no choice." Meg replied. "So, what now? You try to off me. Haven't we played this game before?"

"Relax. I didn't call you here to kill you. I want to make a deal."

"Old habits die hard, huh?" Meg said. "And what makes you think I want to make any deal with you?"

"Because you will like what I have to offer." Dean replied, throwing another ancient parchment at her. Meg caught it mid-air and looked through it.

"What is it?"

"A spell." Dean explained. "To release souls from hell. Only a demon can use this. You need to go back to hell and release the souls there."

"That's a lot you are asking from me." Meg said. "And what do I get in return?"

"That is what I'm offering you, you stupid bitch." Dean said. "How do you think Crowley got to be the king of hell. Or Lillith for that matter. They were both crossroad demons. They dealt in human souls. That's where their power came from. The more souls they have in their bags, the stronger they are. I want you to go to hell and empty Crowley's bag."

"That is still a big risk you are asking me to take." Meg said. "If your boss finds out about this, he'll have both of our heads."

"I'll handle Crowley." Dean replied. "He's gonna be too busy upstairs to know what's going on downstairs. Besides, this is an opportunity for you. Soon, Crowley will be dead and the position of Queen bitch would be open."

"And you are giving me this out of the goodness of your heart?"

"The way I see it, I can't lose here." Dean replied. "Either you bring Crowley down or he slaughters you. Both are a win in my book."

"You seem to be sure that I won't betray you." Meg said.

"You won't." Dean replied. "As long as Crowley is in power, you have no chance of freeing Lucifer. Your best bet is to take him down and continue with your daddy's plans."

Dean received no reply and a moment later he was staring into empty air. The final piece was in place now. Hopefully, Meg and Crowley would end up destroying each-other. He now had everything he needed to bring them all down. But, he couldn't move yet, not just yet. He had to wait for the best time.

* * *

"Good. All of you are here." Crowley said to the assembled Winchester and Campbell clans in the room.

"Dean isn't." John replied. "He's on a hunt."

"He doesn't need to be here." Crowley said. "The way I understand it, he is no longer a part of this little inner circle. Don't blame you guys though. He is incompetent and untrustworthy. Two of the things I hate most in my employees."

Uncomfortable shuffling ran through the room. No one liked to hear the brutal truth pointed out.

"And this is about Dean in a way." Crowley continued. "I have found a way to get to the Purgatory and I need something that Dean has."

"That's crazy." Samuel said. "If Dean had something that could give you Purgatory, he'd be the first to hand it over, crowning over the rest of us."

"I doubt even Dean knows what he has." Crowley replied. "It's a ring he has recently acquired. That ring can help me find purgatory. I want you guys to get it for me."

"A ring?" Christian asked. "What kind of ring? What does it do?"

"That ring is classified under the things that are above your pay grade." Crowley replied. "All you need to know is that Dean has it and I want it."

"So why don't you get it yourself?" Sam asked.

"Well, that's the interesting thing about it." Crowley explained. "The ring cannot be taken, it can only be given. If the owner is parted from it against his will, it will lose its power. So, you need to get Dean to give up the ring, of his own free will and hand it over to me."

"Sam, you seen any such ring with Dean?" John asked his son.

"Yeah, I guess." Sam replied. "He has a new ring, but when I asked him about it, he said it was a protection charm."

"Like I said, untrustworthy." Crowley commented. "Well, then, you have your orders."

The room sat in contemplative silence following Crowley's departure for a few minutes.

"Well, I think you should be the one to ask him, John." Samuel said, breaking the silence. "We all know how Dean would never say no to you for anything."

"I don't think it's a good idea." John answered. "If I get the ring, I'll have to hand it over to Crowley. That ring maybe the only thing that we can possibly hold over Crowley. That holds true for all of us here."

"Isn't that the very idea?"

"Look, we all want Mary back. That's our goal here." John explained. "But we have to make sure he keeps up his end of the bargain. Right now, Crowley holds all the cards. There is no telling what he'll do once he gets what he wants. Dean might have stumbled onto something here. We need to figure what it is before we hand it over to Crowley and right now it's safest with Dean."

"Well, I guess that means out with the ancient books." Samuel said.

"Yeah." John agreed. "And guys, keep this whole thing a secret from Dean. If he finds out what he has, he might do something stupid."

"It doesn't make sense, though." Sam said. "If Dean has this thing that actually might hold the key to finding the purgatory, why hasn't he told us about it?"

"C'mon, Sam, you know your brother." Christian replied. "He's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. He probably thinks that it is just a protection charm."

"Christian's right." John agreed. "And it's in everyone's best interest that he continues believing that."

* * *

"Jesus." Dean shouted as he entered the bedroom. "What the hell?"

"Hey Dean." Sam relied, smiling unabashedly.

"Jesus, don't you knock." Gwen said, pushing Sam away and hastily pulling the covers around her.

"Well, excuse me for coming into my own room without knocking." Dean said. "What the hell is going on here?"

"What does it look like?" Sam asked, causally putting on his clothes.

"I don't even want to know." Dean replied. "Sam, Dad wants you. He and Samuel and Christian have something to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

"Don't know, don't care." Dean replied.

He gave Sam a wide berth to get out of the room before turning back to Gwen, who was now halfway through putting on her clothes.

"Sam? Really?" He asked disbelievingly. "You guys wanna go to hell so bad, there are easier ways."

"For God's sake Dean, we're third cousins." Gwen replied. "This relationship is perfectly acceptable in almost all cultures."

"Relationship?" Dean asked. "You think that's what this is? In case you didn't notice, Sam has no soul. I doubt that he's gonna feel that way about you once he gets his soul back."

"If he gets his soul back." Gwen corrected. "In case you didn't notice, you are pretty much the only one around here who wants to get Sam's soul."

"That's crazy."

"Wake up Dean." Gwen said. "Sam's soul is probably so broken by now, it will leave him a blubbering mess if it gets back in his body. And no one wants that for him, except, apparently you."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. And if you weren't so pathetic, you'd see it too." Gwen said. "This, now, it is the only chance Sam has at finding happiness and you are too selfish to let him have it."

"What?"

"Without his soul, Sam doesn't need you anymore. The only reason he puts up with you, is because you are related. And that can't last forever."

"You are wrong." Dean replied. "Sam wants me here."

"Really? Is that why he didn't tell you he was alive for one whole year?"

"He wanted to protect me." Dean countered. "He wanted me to be happy."

"You don't believe that, do you?" Gwen replied. "You know that Sam doesn't care about you or your happiness. And the fact is, even soulless, he cares about us. That's why he hunted with us, instead of you. You think if you walked out right now Sam would come with you? You think if you asked him to chose between you and me, he'd choose you?"

"Maybe not this Sam." Dean said. "But my Sam would."

"No, not really." Gwen replied. "When has Sam ever picked you over someone else? He left you for college. For Jess. Hell, he even picked a demon over you. That's how little you mean to him. You think that if Ruby had actually been on level, he'd have ever come back to you?"

"You have no right to talk about him like that." Dena snarled.

"You don't see it, do you? Sam is a part of our family Dean. As is John. But you are not." Gwen said. "You just share the last name and that's the only reason we all tolerate you. But even you have to see it coming. Soon enough, John is going to ask you to leave and Sam isn't gonna do jack to keep you around."

"You keep telling yourself that, honey."

"I don't have to." Gwen replied. "You notice how, even right now, they are discussing important hunts without you? Even they don't think you are good enough to be included."

"I notice that you are not there either." Dean said.

"It doesn't matter." Gwen answered. "They keep me in loop. Sam tells me everything. All his secrets. All your secrets. He told me all about your time in hell. How you broke the first seal. How you failed to kill that Shtriga. Everything. That is what family is Dean. We share things with each-other. When was the last time Sam or your Dad shared anything with you?"

Dean stood seething without answering the question.

"You are not a part of this family, Dean. You should just do us all a favor and get the hell out of dodge." Gwen finished. "Now, if we are done here, I'd like to go and see what the guys are talking about."

"Wait." Dean said, as Gwen started to move past him. "I have something to give you."

Dean moved past Gwen to his duffel and opened it, taking out a folder.

"I was going to look into this myself." Dean sighed. "But I guess you are the best person to do this."

"What is it?" Gwen asked, taking the folder, and flipping through the newspaper clippings and articles inside.

"You remember the demon you screwed?" Dean asked.

"You mean the one who raped me and made me have his baby?" Gwen answered. "How could I forget?"

"Well, some of the witches who summoned him are still out there." Dean explained. "I've been tracking them for some time now. I guess you'd like to catch up to them and get some payback."

"You still haven't caught up to them?" Gwen asked. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"You said I wasn't a part of this family." Dean replied. "Maybe I want to be."

Gwen nodded and left the room with the folder and Dean smiled with grim satisfaction at her retreating back. He wasn't a part of this family and he had no intention of being one. But he had every intention of destroying this family. Each and every one of them. Just killing them wouldn't be enough. He had to put them through hell. Gwen would undoubtedly catch up to the witches soon enough, since Dean had given her all the necessary clues. Then she would undoubtedly find out his role in her tragedy. From the summoning of the demon to the death of her child. It would destroy her, he knew that. It would destroy Gwen to find out that she had been so manipulated by a guy she despised and thought of as worthless and a fool. And then she'd try to kill him, but she won't be able to. Because then, he'd make Sam kill her. Not because of love, though. Dean no longer harbored any illusions about his brother or father. But he had something on Sam, his soul, and Sam would kill her for his own safety. Dean chuckled quietly. It was ironic how truly she believed in Sam and his supposed love for his family. That belief would be her downfall.

* * *

"It's a dead lead." Dean argued.

"It's a solid lead." Samuel returned. "It's the best one we've had in months. We can get the Alpha Djinn with this."

"I'm sorry Dean." John interrupted. "But your grandfather's right."

"What, you following his orders now?" Dean replied. "C'mon Dad, we both know that the Alpha Djinn is too strong to be caught like this. We go after him now and we are just gonna end up dead. Now my lead on the Alpha werewolf, that's a sure thing."

It wasn't and Dean knew it. His lead was sketchy at best. But he couldn't let the others go after the Djinn. Not since he had let it escape just a few months before. If Samuel and the others caught up to him, as they undoubtedly will, then his treachery would come to light and it would force his hand. And Dean hated having his hand forced.

"Don't worry Dean, we won't be sloppy like you." Samuel said, snidely. "We won't let him slip right through our fingers."

"Alright, you know what, I'm done with this." Crowley said loudly. He had made one of his rare appearances at their strategy meetings. "Your little pissing match has gone too far. At first, I thought that a little competition is good for business, but this isn't productive. So, tell you what, both of you follow your leads and whoever bags me an Alpha first, wins."

"Wins?" Dean asked. "What, this is some sort of game to you?"

"Exactly. It's a competition now." Crowley replied. "Both of you will try and get me an Alpha. The one who gets back first, well, he gets whatever he wants."

"What the hell does that mean?" Samuel asked.

"It means, deal of the century. Submit your tenders now." Crowley said. "If Grandpa here gets back first, I bring Mary back from dead. If Dean wins, I get Sammy's soul back. But there is a down side too. If you fail, your services will be terminated. You will leave, never to darken this doorstep again. Fair enough?"

Dean's heart sank. This wasn't going the way he had hoped.

"Sounds good to me." Samuel agreed. "So who comes with whom?"

"The other members of the team are not a part of it." Crowley said. "They can help or hinder whomever they want. They won't be punished either way. So, tick-tock, boys. Clock's a-running."

Samuel and Christian were out of the room the moment Crowley disappeared, leaving only the Winchesters.

"So, I guess it's three of us once again, huh?" Dean said, looking at his father and brother.

"No, Dean. You are alone on this." John replied. "If Samuel wins, Mary comes back and I want that more than anything else. So does your brother."

"Dad, what the hell is wrong with you?" Dean asked. "It's your son's soul we are talking about."

"What the hell is wrong with you Dean?" Sam interrupted. "You know what will happen to me if that thing gets put back into me. None of us want that except you."

"It's not right, Sam."

"No, but it's better that the alternative." John replied.

"Dad, you know that Crowley is not just gonna let me walk away." Dean argued. "If I lose, he'll kill me."

"We won't let that happen." John said. "I won't let that happen. But if you lose, you walk away from this mess, you hear me son? You build a life for yourself and you leave hunting behind. You understand?"

"Yes, Dad, I get it." Dean replied. "You are saying that if I lose, I'll lose you, Sam and most likely Mom as well."

* * *

He'd lost. Goddammit, he'd lost, Dean thought furiously as the impala raced back towards the compound. To be fair, he hadn't actually wanted to win. Samuel had had a solid lead and the support of the whole family behind him. He had been alone and as expected, his lead had turned out to be nothing. Even so, Dean knew that he could have won easily. All he had to do was to take some of the Alpha blood from his collection and to his little spell. He hadn't done it because each drop of that blood was precious. He didn't know how much Kali would need for her spell, but he wasn't about to waste any. Besides, win or lose, Crowley would end up with an Alpha and Dean hadn't wanted that. He had honestly thought that he would come up with some other way in between, but now it was all over.

Dean had received a call from his father telling him of the recent capture of the Alpha Djinn and asking him to come back to the compound as soon as possible. His brief talk with his father had also told him that Gwen had returned from her hunt and was greatly upset about something. And his father's tone had told him that they knew that he had let the Alpha escape and were awaiting an explanation. Dammit all, now his hand would be forced. He could run away, Dean mused. He could just disappear and no one would ever find him. But no, it just wasn't him. Besides, he'd never give them the satisfaction of thinking that they had beaten him. Dammit, he'd wanted some more time to do more research. To find out if there was any other monster he'd missed which had an Alpha running around. But it was over now. It was now or never. Briefly, Dean closed his eyes and prayed.

"Is it time then?" Kali said, appearing in the passenger seat of the Impala. "It better be."

"Yeah, it's time for our deal." Dean replied. "The blood is under the seat."

The box containing the vials appeared in Kali's hands, as she opened it and examined the contents.

"Thirty-four samples." She said. "Impressive. You will be a legend after this. Thirty four species wiped off the face of the earth in a moment. Though, I must remind you, not all of them are evil."

"I don't care." Dean replied. "You want the ring, you will keep your end. Finish them all."

"So, when do I get the ring?" Kali asked.

"Soon. I just have few last things to do." Dean said. "Look, the ring is promised to you. Even if I'm dead, you can take it from my fingers and it'll be yours. Just give me some time to finish my business."

Kali assented and then disappeared from his car. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to use the ring. Who was he kidding? He definitely would have to use it. Everything else he'd planned was bound to fail. The others weren't stupid. They had known that he was up to something and they would have taken steps to foil him. But all those other things had been red-herrings. The ring was his final option and he was pretty sure no one knew about it. Well, it was now or never.

The Impala came to a stop inside the compound and Dean squared his shoulders and marched inside.

* * *

"Dean. Welcome back." Crowley said as Dean entered the room. "We were just talking about you."

Dean didn't doubt it. Looking around the room he saw suspicion and hostility in all the eyes present. Gwen was looking positively homicidal.

"Something good I hope." Dean snarked.

"Not really. We were just discussing your recent exploits." Crowley replied. "Gwen here seems to be under the impression that you were the one who orchestrated the release of a demon called Lust. There any truth to that?"

"If by truth you mean that I gave the witches the summoning spell for Lust, then yeah." Dean shrugged. "I needed that one topside for a bit."

"You son of a bitch." Gwen snarled. She started to move towards him and was physically restrained by Sam and Christian. "You were the one behind that. You got me raped."

"Hey, I warned you not to go after that thing." Dean replied. "Not my fault you wouldn't listen."

"And then you got her baby killed." Crowley continued. "Kind of a wasted effort, don't you think?"

"That kid had served its purpose." Dean replied.

"And what purpose was that?" John asked, ignoring Gwen's renewed efforts to get at Dean.

"C'mon Dad, you can't really expect me to spill all my secrets?" Dean said. "You taught me how to keep them after all."

"And then there is the little matter of letting all those Alphas escape." Crowley said. "I thought that you were just incompetent. But you were just trying to screw me over. Ineffectively, I might add."

"What can I say?" Dean replied. "I told you before I don't work for demons."

"Shut up Dean, just shut up. You are just digging yourself deeper." John interrupted. "Crowley, he can't do any to you. He lost the contest. Just let him go."

"Let me go?" Dean laughed. "Dad, you possibly can't be that stupid. He was never gonna let me go. His goons are probably waiting outside to nab me as soon as I step out of here."

"Dean, I'm hurt." Crowly said. "You think I wouldn't keep my promises? All I want from you is the promise that you won't mess up the hunt anymore with your stupid gimmicks."

"Hunt? What hunt?"

"My hunt for the Alphas, ofcourse." Crowley replied. "Your little antics have been annoying and serve no real obstacle. And I doubt that you can do much without your family backing you up. But still, it would be preferable if you didn't be so damn irritating anymore."

"Oh, that hunt." Dean said, feigning understanding. "Sorry, Crowley, but that hunt is over. You already lost."

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked.

"You remember the destroyer those things were talking about?" Dean explained. "Never thought it would be me, did you Dad? You never even considered the possibility that your weak, stupid, pathetic son was the one who'd rid this world of those monsters. You thought of everyone from Sam to Christian, but didn't see what was right in front of you."

"You?" Samuel sneered. "Don't kid yourself kid. In case you didn't remember, you weren't even able to catch an alpha before me."

As if on cue a demon, one of Crowley's, Dean recognized appeared in their midst, looking pale and shaken up.

"Sir." He said, addressing Crowley, breathing hard. "They are all dead. I don't know how it happened, but everything we had captured just dropped dead."

"You did this?" Crowley asked Dean, disbelievingly.

"Did I?" Dean turned towards the demon.

"I don't know sir." The demon replied, looking uncertainly between Crowley and Dean. "A few minutes ago, they all just dropped dead."

"It's true." Arlene said coming into the room. Dean hadn't noticed her leave. Samuel must have given her the silent instruction to go and check on the safety of the Djinn Alpha when the conversation on the hunt started. She must have ran all the way there and back to have made it back so quickly. "The Djinn is dead. I don't know how, there isn't a mark on his body, but he's bleeding from inside out."

Dean started laughing. Even to his own ears that laugh sounded maniacal. It had worked.

"She did it." Dean said, trying to control his laughter. "She friggin' did it."

"Who?" Sam asked, confused. "Who did what?"

"Who else? Kali, you moron." Dean laughed. "The great Goddess. The destroyer of evil. I gave her the blood of all the Alphas and she killed them and their children and their childrens' children. A fitting tribute to the blood-thirsty Goddess, don't you think?"

"You two-faced son-of-a-bitch." Crowley growled.

"Your quality of insults is slipping, Fergus." Dean mocked. "Guess you don't take defeat well."

"You? Beat me? Don't make me laugh." Crowley said. "You should never have come back here, boy. You should have run away as far as possible."

"Oh, but I didn't come unprepared." Dean replied. "Or are you forgetting about your missing bones? "

Crowley stood silent for a moment while Dean took out his cell-phone and dialed a number.

"I set it up with a circuit, a phone and a can of gasoline some ways from here." Dean said, holding up the phone. "I hit dial here and your bones go up in flames there."

"You wouldn't do it." Crowley sneered. "I'm the only one who can get your brother's soul back."

"You think I still care about that?"

"Dean - ." John said warningly.

"Oh, and there is your dear old father, ofcourse." Crowley continued, ignoring John. "You think I didn't know the moment my bones were stolen? I knew one of you had something to do with that. So I brought back dear old daddy and bound his soul to mine. If I die, he dies."

"You are bluffing." Dean said.

"No, he's not." John replied. "Son, why do you think I was willing to work for a demon? He literally owns me."

Dean nodded slowly.

"Dad, you remember telling me hunting was all about the hard choices?"

"No - ." John shouted, but it was already too late. Dean pressed the dial button, shocking everyone in room.

The room filled with silence, everyone looking at each-other for the next development. A few moments later, music rang out from Crowley's pocket.

"Excuse me, I have a call to attend." Crowley said, taking out the phone and answering it. "Hello? That's weird. There seems to be no-one on the other side. And my caller-id says it's from Dean Winchester."

Dean scowled angrily and threw away his phone.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find my bones?" Crowley smirked.

"We had a deal." John said to Crowley. "I handed over the bones to you in exchange for Dean's safety."

"You sold me out?" Dean asked his father angrily.

"Don't blame him Dean. He was just doing what was best for the family." Crowley replied. "And John, you really care about what happens to Dean after he just tried to kill you?"

John looked undecided for a moment and then turned away.

"Besides, I'm not going to hurt a hair on that boy's head." Crowley said. "But I can't speak for them."

The question of them was answered as low growls filled the air. Hellhounds. A lot of them as well, by the sound of it. How long had they been there? Dean backed away towards the wall slowly.

Was this it? Dean thought, turning the ring on his finger. But he was interrupted by a new arrival in their midst.

"Not so fast Crowley." Balthazar said, appearing in the room in a rush of wings. "Have you forgotten our little bargain?"

"The deal's off." Crowley replied. "Dumbo here killed all the Alphas."

"And the rest of them, yeah I heard." Balthazar added. "Been hearing the news all over the world. People dropping dead of the streets and dissolving in a puddle of goo. Animal dying and turning into humans. Quite an achievement. But your goal aren't those things, it's purgatory itself. I can help you get there."

"A demon and an angel, working together." Dean smirked. "I've heard that joke before. It wasn't funny then either."

"Well, I guess we can let you live after all." Crowley said. "Dean, hand over the ring to the nice angel and I'll let you go."

"Forget it." Dean replied. "This thing is gonna help me destroy you."

"How?" Crowley sneered. "You gonna set your little angel on me. In case you didn't notice, I have one on my side too. And he has got bigger weapons than yours."

"Castiel can't come to his aid." Balthazar said. "Didn't you hear? Heaven has been sealed. No angel can step outside and come to earth for thousands of years now. Not even with the ring."

"So what use is it to you the?" Dean asked.

"You took it from me Dean, under false pretenses." Balthazar replied. "You cheated on our deal. I just want back what's mine to begin with."

"Like you are cheating Crowley now?" Dean said. "Crowley, didn't he tell you what I gave him in exchange for the ring? I told him where purgatory was."

"What?"

"That's right. The big prize you were working on." Dean continued. "I've known about it for months now. The little blood tracking spell he is gonna give you for the ring, he got that idea for me. I used it to find the purgatory. And I sold it to Death first. I guess the Horseman really cleaned house in there if Balty here wasn't even able to get off with one soul."

"He's lying." Balthazar said. "He's just trying to save his skin."

"I don't bloody care either way." Crowley shouted. "If the ring is useless now, I guess it doesn't matter whether he gives it to you or we pry it off his dead fingers."

"I guess that's true." Balthazar said, after considering it for a moment.

"Good then." Crowley flung out his arm, psychically throwing Dean against the wall and pinning him there. The growls of the hounds got closer to him until Dean could smell there rancid breaths.

"Dad." Dean shouted desperately. "Don't let him do this."

His father didn't say anything but the message couldn't have been clearer. _You didn't care about my life, so I won't care about yours._

"Sam, please." Dean pleaded to his brother. He wasn't down to his last option, not yet.

"Sorry, Dean." Sam replied. "You brought this upon yourself."

Guess he was down to the last option then, Dean thought, frantically turning the ring on his finger.

"You are forgetting, Dean." Crowley, smirked. "No angel is coming to help you. Besides, I've got a big one right here."

"Yeah?" Dean smirked. "Mine's bigger."

Dean ignored the hell-hounds descending on him, tearing into his flesh. He ignored their claws and jaws digging into him. Dean just closed his eyes, concentrated his entire being on the ring and prayed – _Descend, Raphael_.

All of a sudden the hellhounds backed off in fear, whimpering, as the ground began to shake. The room started getting brighter and brighter with holy light until it hurt to keep one's eyes open. A sound that started off low, became a high-pitched siren, shattering the windows and making everyone cover their ears, harkening the arrival of an arch-angel.

* * *

He'd screwed up, Sam thought trying to get to his feet and stop the ringing in his head. He'd backed the wrong party. He should have remembered that Dean always came out at the top in the end. Sam looked around accessing the damage. Howls of pain came from invisible entities, as the hell-hounds were set on fire. Randomly, a few of them exploded, staining the floor with their black blood. Christian and Arlene were lying motionless on the floor. Both of them had been stupid enough not to have closed their eyes and now their sockets were empty. Whether they were still alive, Sam couldn't tell. Dean had flung Crowley, John, Samuel and Gwen to the wall, all of them pinned there with his power.

"This isn't possible." Balthazar said, backing up.

"Deal with you in a bit." Dean said and flung out his hand. Flames arose in a ring around the angel, imprisoning him. "Don't go anywhere."

"This isn't possible." Balthazar repeated. "None but the archangels can create holy fire out of nothing."

"You screwed up when you gave me the ring." Dean replied. "When you try to summon a dead angel with it, his scattered grace comes and attaches to the nearest vessel. You should've remembered that, you told me after all."

"That's preposterous." Balthazar said. "No human should be able to contain an archangel's grace."

"Vessel of Michael, remember?" Dean replied and turn towards Sam. "Sammy, you are up. Good. Here." Dean telekinetically threw a knife at his feet. "I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Kill Gwen."

"What?"

"Dean. No."

Samuel and John shouted in unison. They struggles against the invisible force bonding them, but it was of no use.

"I killed her kid, Sam." Dean explained. "As long as she lives, she's a threat. You wanna get out of this alive, you'll kill her for me."

Sam picked up the knife and tuned out Samuel and Johns' protests. It was an easy choice.

"Sam, no. Please." Gwen begged. "I love you."

"I know Gwen." Sam replied, sadly. "I love me too."

The knife sunk deep in her gut and Sam turned his attention back to Dean, who, currently was attending to Crowley. The demon was laid out on the table, his face completely smashed in. Dean's hand was currently deep inside his chest, clutching at something that sent sparks throughout the demon's body.

"Dean, if you kill him - ." John started to say.

"Just practicing what you preached, Dad." Dean replied. "None of you were strong enough to follow the three things needed to be a hunter. I am."

Dean tightened his grip inside Crowley, killing the demon. Immediately, John started coughing up blood and Dean let him fall bonelessly to the floor. Him and Samuel, Sam realized. Dean walked up to Samuel, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Samuel looked up to Dean from his kneeling position.

"It's okay." Dean said, in a soothing voice. "Crowley had to be killed. You get it, right?"

"Yeah." Samuel answered, more scared than anything else. "You are an archangel now? Can you bring back Mary?"

"Yes, I can." Dean replied.

Samuel's face broke into a smile in relief.

"But I won't." Dean added.

"No - ." Sam shouted out in warning, but it was too late. Samuel began to glow from inside as flames erupted from his eyes and mouth. Moments later, Samuel's charred body fell to floor.

Sam was too busy taking in the massacre to notice anything else. Dead. They were all dead. All those he thought of as his family were massacred within five minutes. But he was alive. A shout from Balthazar broke him out of his reverie. In desperation, Balthazar took his angelic blade and rushed at Dean. Dean grabbed his arm and twisted it backwards at an unnatural angle. The next thing Sam saw was Balthazar's own arm stabbing himself in the back. A bright flash of light later and it was all over as the angel's lifeless body fell to the floor.

Apparently, not everything was over, Sam thought as he found himself sail through the air and slam against a wall.

"Dean." Sam said, feeling horrified and betrayed. "You promised you'd let me live."

"Oh, I'm not gonna kill you Sam." Dean said, clutching his amulet. "I'm gonna do something much worse."

Dean's hand came away holding a small glowing object. A human soul, Sam recognized. His soul?

"What are you doing?"

"I promised you, didn't I?" Dean replied."I'll get your soul back. Here it is, with everything that Lucifer and Michael put it through."

"Dean, don't do this to me." Sam begged.

"Sorry Sam." Dean replied. "You brought this upon yourself."

Sam screamed as Dean stepped up to him and inserted the glowing object into his chest. It was a pain beyond anything he could remember. Fierce flames seemed to grow and spread all inside his body. He didn't know when, but he had fallen to the floor, curled up in pain. Last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Dean disappearing in a rustle of wings.

* * *

He should be dead, Dean thought. His work was done and he had used up his last card. There was no more reason for him to go on living. No, wait, there was. There was one more thing he could do.

Summoning the angel's grace into himself gave him a lot more than just power. Knowledge of ancient spells, memories all flew threw his mind. There was another thing he could accomplish before his time ran out.

Once again Dean found himself at the centre of the old cowboys cemetery which was the location for a devil's gate. There wasn't much time left, Dean thought. Searching the angel's memories for the archaic blood ritual, Dean drew the necessary symbol on the door of the crypt and chanted the spell silently. This, Dean thought, would be his final act as a hunter.

"Your arrogance never fails to astound me." A voice said from behind him. "You dare to bind me?"

"Death." Dean smiled, turning around. "Nice of you to come. I guess Lucifer must have gone over the details, so I don't have to explain the rules to you. Basically, I'm an archangel who has bound you and now you have to do as I say. So here's my order. Go clean up hell."

"The appropriate response for such insolence would be for me to kill you right now." Death said. "Is there any reason I shouldn't?"

"Yeah." Dean replied. "The same reason you didn't kill Lucifer. You see, I have all the memories of Raphael. I can remember now that the last time you were sealed, it was because of killing the arch-angel Azrael. That one, created to replace Lucifer, was trying to take your position and you killed him for that and paid the price. I guess even you have to suffer the consequences of your actions. So, I guess you have two choices, now. You can kill me now and get sealed for God knows how long or you can follow my order and destroy every soul in hell. Something you planned on doing anyways."

"It seems your tiny consciousness can't comprehend how difficult a task that is going to be." Death replied. "Hell isn't like purgatory, it has a will of its own. Hell will fight me tooth and nails to keep the souls it has got. It will take me centuries to clean it up."

"Well, then, you better get started."

"You little - ."

"Hey. I'm giving orders here." Dean shouted. "You keep calling me arrogant, but you can't seem to admit that a human has got the better of you. Well, I don't care if your ego is bruised. You can kill me right now, but as I'm sure you know, I'm dead in a few minutes anyway. This ring cannot contain the arch-angel's power. Soon enough, it will burn me from inside out. Your only choice here is to either go to hell or go to jail."

Throwing Dean a last vicious look, Death made his way towards the crypt.

"Remember." Dean said. "Death shouldn't cheat either."

"I don't cheat, Dean." Death said, turning around. "I have no need to."

As soon as he was alone, Dean slumped against the nearest headstone, his legs finally giving out. He could feel his control over the grace fading. The heat in his body was rising.

"I guess it's time to keep your end of the bargain." Kali said, once again appearing before him.

"You are taking a big risk coming here." Dean laughed in reply. "You know it's quite possible for me to end you right now."

"Maybe, maybe not. Neither of us intends to find out." Kali said. "You won't try to kill me Dean. Because right now, I'm the only one in the world who understands your motivations."

"And you think that reason is good enough for me?"

"There is also your dying wish." Kali added. "I'm the only one who can grant it."

Dean sighed. The Goddess had him there. He still needed her to grant him his final salvation. Suppressing the grace once more, Dean looked up at the Kali.

"So will you do it?" He asked.

"Do what?"

"I don't have time for games, okay?" Dean said. "Will you give me oblivion?"

"Perhaps." Kali replied. "If you tell me why you seek it."

"Why? That's what you want to know." Dean laughed. "Remember I told you that I've been studying up on you. There was this warrior in one of the old stories, this guy called Karna. He had a really miserable life. So miserable in fact that when he was dying he asked to be laid to rest in barren ground. Just so his miserable life wouldn't pass on to anything else. Well, I don't want to continue my miserable existence either. There is nothing there for me in heaven, hell, purgatory or earth. I just don't want to exist anymore. Can you do atleast that much for me?"

Kali considered his answer for a moment and then held out her hand.

"Give me the ring Dean." She said.

"As soon as I take this off, I'll burn to death." Dean said. "You should stay back a little."

"It won't hurt me." Kali replied.

"You haven't given me an answer yet." Dean stated.

"Because I haven't made a decision yet." Kali replied. "What I do with your soul after your death should not be your concern, since you have already given up on it. Just trust me, you will not regret letting me make this decision."

Dean held Kali's gaze for a moment and then nodded in assent. Taking the ring off his finger, he placed it on Kali's outstretched palm. As soon as it left his hand, unbearable heat arose within him and Dean screamed harder than he had ever before.

* * *

Alright, this chapter is done as well. This is mostly how I wanted things to end in this story, but some plotlines had to be abandoned. The next chapter would be last and then I can finally start working on the new idea that's been bugging me. As usual, tell me what you thought of this.


	6. Chapter 6 : Dream On

**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.

**Summary**: Dean was not just his brother, he was the only person Sam cared about in this world. And he was determined to get him back.

**A/N**: Here it is. The last chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 6. Dream On**

Sam Winchester was a creature of routine. That was the only way he could maintain some semblance of control over his otherwise mess of a life. His brother might mock him for his OCD, but Sam knew that if Dean was with him right now, he'd appreciate it.

He had fallen into a hectic, yet somehow comfortable routine nowadays. Sam had taken up residence at one of Dad's old hunting cabins and each day had the same schedule. He'd wake up in the morning and check if Dean was fine. He'd then clean up Dean, emptying the catheter bag and wash him. He'd change Dean's bed-sheets and move his brother around to make sure he didn't get bed-sores. He'd make sure Dean's IV's were refilled, giving his brother the energy to survive. Then he'd begin his own day. Shower, breakfast, chores around the house, upkeep of Impala. Whatever time he had left after he'd spend it by Dean's side, either reading a book to his brother or watching TV. He'd talk to Dean for hours at an end, not bothered by how horribly one-sided the conversation was, till it was time for bed.

The doctors had declared Dean to be brain-dead. They'd said there was no more hope, that Dean's body was now just an empty shell, somehow surviving on its own without the life-support. What the hell did they know, right? It had been three weeks since Sam had gotten his soul back, three weeks since Dean had ended everything else and Sam was determined never to leave his brother again. Even if it meant that he had to live like this forever.

Carefully moving Dean to his own bed, to let Dean's sheets air out a little, Sam turned on the TV. He might have cut himself off from almost all human contact, but that was no reason not to keep an eye on things.

"In a stunning new development this morning, several of the missing persons in the Jackson County have been found." The newscaster said. "The authorities say that these people had been held captive by a group of vampires in an old warehouse. More from our filed reporter, Jonah McNally."

"Thank you Kat." The scene shifted to a man at a crime scene. "It has been three weeks since the stunning development that brought to light the existence of legendary creatures among us. As most of you are already aware, several individuals randomly dropped dead in many public places out of the blue. Though terrorist activity was suspected at first, these things were revealed to be, well, things. Autopsies revealed and continue to reveal, weirder and weirder DNA patterns. One such case occurred in Jackson County. According the hostages, they had been captured by a group of vampires who were using them as stored blood-supply, feeding off them slowly. They had been held captives for days, without food and water, until the fateful day three weeks ago, when all of their captors just dropped dead for no apparent reason."

_I bet_, Sam smirked. It was ironic that the moment the civilians found out about the existence of these creatures had been the moment they were wiped out of existence. Well, atleast it prevented mass hysteria from spreading among the general public.

It had been the same news every day. Just minors variations. Every creature they'd hunted, had fallen dead and their bodies lay there, rotting. Many of the species that had blended with the public, like the shapeshifters and skinwalkers and werewolves had been found almost immediately. Others that lived on the fringe, like the vampires, were being found one by one. If it hadn't been for the fact that they were all already dead, the world would've been thrown into chaos.

"You should see this Dean." Sam said to his unconscious brother. "You'll get a real kick out of it. Man, you broke Dad's first rule of family business in the most spectacular way. Hey, you think they are watching that old 'confession' of yours and dropping all charges against you as we speak?"

Sam wasn't bothered by Dean's silence.

"Yeah, since when did we get so lucky, huh?" Sam answered himself. "But man, if you would just wake up, you'll be the hero of this world. Bigger badass than Van Helsing, you know? Hey, did you know, Chuck's books have taken off. Become the new bestsellers overnight. All of a sudden, vampires aren't that cool anymore and hunters are all the rage. I actually tried to call him to threaten bodily harm if he even thinks about continuing the series. But he's nowhere to be found. Apparently no one else can reach him either. Yeah, I know, crazy right?"

On the TV, the report continued.

"I was horrible." One of the captives was saying. "They'd drag us out one by one and drink out blood. They even force fed me some of theirs. To turn me, they said. It was the worst thing I've felt in my life. Everything hurt and I could feel myself turning. Then all of a sudden that it just stopped." She shuddered. "I came this close to becoming one of them. I just want to say to whoever did this, thank-you. Thank-you for saving my life."

"But, as you just heard, we don't know who we have to thank for this miracle, yet." The reporter continued. "The authorities are baffled over what could have caused all these creatures to die spontaneously. The recently discovered underground community of hunters, people who have spent their lives secretly combating these creatures, have no explanation either. The local church, ofcourse, seems to have an answer."

"What we are witnessing here is a miracle of our heavenly father." A priest was saying, shaking a bible at the camera. "Let this be a sign to all the heathens and non-believers out there. God walks among us and he has shown us his wrath. He has done this to protect innocent lives. It is not for the first time. The people of Sodom were struck down the very same way. Let this be a warning to all you creatures of Satan out there. All you sinners and witches and homosexuals. Mend your ways. God is here and he is not pleased."

"You hear that Dean? Apparently, you are God now." Sam said. "That bible-thumper is just nuts. Hey, what do you think he'll say when he finds out that it was a Pagan Goddess who did away with all those monsters? With help from a man who drinks, has a lot of sex and actively hates God. Bet you could start your own religion now."

"But while it remains to be seen if God did, in fact, have anything to do with the extermination, the moral issues surrounding the complete eradication of so many species, seem debatable." The female newscaster was back. "Join us later for a debate on the subject between the spokesperson of newly invented 'Sentient Beings Rights activist' and an experienced hunter, Rufus Turner."

Chuckling to himself, Sam turned off the TV.

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot to tell you about Rufus." Sam said to Dean. "Well, apparently he was hunting a siren when all that crap went down. The siren had half the police force under its control was getting Rufus arrested. As soon as you dropped the bomb, the siren turned to its real from, in front of news cameras, no less. Since then, Rufus has kind of been in the centre of things. Hasn't had a moment's peace ever since."

Sam got up and adjusted the bed sheets around Dean.

"But man, can you imagine coming out and telling everyone what you did." Sam continued.  
"You'd get so much tail. But you'll have to live your life under a microscope as well."

The sound of approaching car drew Sam's attention away. Bobby was finally here. Making sure that Dean was alright for the moment; Sam made his way out to greet the old hunter.

"Hey Bobby." Sam greeted. "Thanks for coming over here."

"You kidding me, I was glad to get out of there." Bobby replied. "That damn Rufus, he wasn't satisfied with going down alone, he had to take me with him. I couldn't take a step outside my house without being blinded by those bloody photographers. Meanwhile, there ain't a hunt in sight to distract me either. I've been going out of my mind with boredom."

"I thought you'd be thankful for a little peace and quiet after everything."

"Peace and quiet." The old hunter grumbled. "You come to my home and I'll show you peace and quiet. How's your brother doing?"

"He's fine. Stable." Sam answered. "Not talking much, but I guess that's to be expected."

"You are taking good care of Dean." Bobby said. "You are a good brother Sam."

"No, I'm not." Sam replied, sadly. "If I had been, it would never have come to this."

"What Dean did, were his own actions, his own choices." Bobby argued. "It ain't your fault your brother became what he did."

"Yes, it is, Bobby. Atleast partly." Sam replied. "If I hadn't been so inconsiderate towards him - ."

"You didn't have a soul."

"The problem started long before that and you know it." Sam replied. "In a way, we all caused it. We all kept telling Dean that he wasn't that good of a hunter, that the only way he could make something of himself was by saving others. Well, in not so many words, but Dean always though like that and we did nothing to correct him."

"Well, given what happened as a result, was that such a bad thing?" Bobby asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, look at what has happened, Sam." Bobby replied. "Dean ended up saving a buttload of lives."

"Screw you, Bobby." Sam said. "I would take Dean, healthy and whole, over all those people any day. I know it sounds selfish, but if Dean waking up right now would mean all those monsters coming back to life, I'll take it."

"Really?" Bobby asked. "Even with the way Dean has been for the past few months? All that hate and anger?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sam shouted. "You keep saying that Dean is your favorite, but is he? Really? Or is it just when he is sacrificing himself for others?"

"Sam - ."

"You told Dean not to give up on me." Sam continued. "Even when I gave him every reason to do so, you chewed him out for even thinking that way. Why the hell are you so eager to give up on him?"

"I'm not giving up on him." Bobby shouted back. "I just wanted to know where your head was at."

"How could you even think that?"

"Dean did a lot of terrible things, Sam." Bobby explained. "He thought giving your soul back would kill you or worse. He killed your Dad. He killed most of your new family and I know you'd gotten close to them."

"Bobby, that was before I had my soul." Sam replied. "I was all screwed up then. I can't believe I stood for them treating Dean the way they did. They way Dad did. And I did the same thing to him. Dean has every reason to hate us. But all that doesn't matter to me. I mean, sure it might have hurt, but all I want now is for my brother to come back to me. I'll make it right with him because I love him. So much that if you ever give up on Dean, I swear Bobby, I wouldn't know how to even look at you anymore."

"I'm not giving up on Dean, boy." Bobby replied. "So, is there a particular reason you called me all the way out here?"

"Three weeks ago, after I got my soul back, I just booked it from there." Sam said. "In the hurry, I left most of our stuff back at the Campbell camp. And I happen to remember they had a lot of money back there too. Dean's maintenance isn't exactly cheap and I can't exactly go out and hustle pool. So I thought I could go there for the stuff while you look after Dean for a while."

"Are you crazy?" Bobby cried. "That place is ground zero for everything. It should be swarming with hunters right now."

"No, it isn't." Sam replied. "I checked. No one knows where it all started. I cleaned up the house before I left, burnt all the bodies there. So there shouldn't be any cops snooping around either. So, what do you say, you up for it?"

"Sure." Bobby nodded. "Show me the ropes."

Sam smiled in return and led Bobby inside the bedrooms to instruct him in Taking Care Of Dean 101.

* * *

"Who's there? Hands in the air. I've got a gun."

Sam cringed at the voice. He'd hoped to be in and out without anyone noticing, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. Sam got up from the safe, slowly, careful not to make any sudden noises.

"Relax, Christian." He said. "It's just me."

"Sam, thank God." Christian's relief was palpable. "Man, am I glad to have you back? Could you please tell me what the hell happened here?"

"Why the hell are you even here?" Sam asked back. "Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"They discharged me a few days back." Christian replied.

The fact that Christian hadn't been smart enough to close his eyes when Dean summoned Raphael's grace had worked in his favor, if you could call it that. His eyes had burnt out, but he'd been alive and unconscious. Arlene hadn't been so lucky, she'd died of internal hemorrhaging.

"And you are living here now?"

"Where else can I go?" Christian said, rubbing at the bandages that still covered his eyes. "It's been tough, let me tell you. A social worker comes everyday to make sure I'm alive. I can't find anyone from our family. Luckily, they left a lot of cash behind. I've been surviving on that for now."

Not anymore, Sam thought guiltily. He'd cleaned up the safe just minutes ago.

"So, now will you tell me what has been happening?" Christian asked. "Last thing I remember was that Crowley was about to kill Dean and that bastard was begging for his life."

Suddenly Sam felt a lot less guilty about taking all the money.

"Well, they're all dead." Sam replied. "Samuel and my dad and Gwen and Arlene, all of them."

Christian sighed and sat down on the nearest chair after groping for it a little.

"I figured as much." He said bitterly. "It's all Dean's fault, you know. That bastard killed all the creatures. I should have known that Crowley would kill us all as soon as he had no use for us. We should never have trusted that demonic bastard."

"You are right." Sam replied. "But Crowley didn't kill anyone. Dean killed him before that."

"You are kidding right?" Christian said. "Dean had an angel and a demon against him. There is no way he could've gotten out of that."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sam said, confused. "I mean, after everything Dean has done, you should realize what he's capable of. Dean is the best hunter in the world. Being blind is no reason why you shouldn't be able to see that."

"You are telling me Dean killed them all?" Christian said, enraged. "He killed our whole family? And Arlene, he killed Arlene? He did this to me?" Christian asked, pointing towards his eyes.

"Yes."

Christian controlled his breathing with difficulty. His were clenched and his face turned red.

"It makes sense now, why you left so soon." He said. "Don't worry Sam, we'll get him for this. Dean will pay for what he's done. Look, I know most of the hunters will see him as a God or a hero after what he has done, but they don't have to know about it right? I've contacted few of my old buddies and it seems that Dean hasn't told anyone about it. The only two persons apart from him that know this are us. We can use it to our advantage. If just tell others about him killing the rest of us, they'll help us hunt Dean down."

Christian had completely misunderstood the situation. Saving him had almost been an afterthought for Sam. After Kali had brought Dean back to him, explaining what had happened, Sam had taken his brother and rushed to the car to get him to the hospital. Only on hearing Christian's unconscious groan had he checked for his survival and taken him along. And even at the hospital, Sam had stuck around for four days, worried about Dean. He had completely forgotten about Christian after the emergency room. And thankfully, due to reigning confusion at the time, no one had reminded him either. Christian mistook Sam's shocked silence for assent and continued.

"But first we need to figure out how he killed the others. Crowley said something about a ring right? We need to get that away from Dean first. Don't worry Sam, the two of us, we won't let him get away with it."

"Dude, stop talking." Sam said. "Dean isn't getting away and I'm not tracking him. I'm staying with Dean right now. I just came back for some of my stuff."

"What?"

"Don't lay it all on Dean." Sam continued. "We were all about to let him get killed. Hell, you'd have probably killed him yourself. Dad and Samuel, they were back from the dead in the first place. Gwen, she was going to try and kill Dean, no matter what. Besides, Dean didn't kill her, I did. And you and Arlene were too stupid not to have closed your eyes when the bright light started pouring in. I'm more surprised you survived till then."

"Why the hell are you with him?" Christian cried. "Sam, you can't trust Dean. Trust me, he'll try to force your soul inside your body and leave you broken."

"He gave me my soul back." Sam replied.

"And you are okay?"

"Apparently."

"I don't understand." Christian said. "Sam you are so strong. You can survive a hundred years of cage with Lucifer without a scratch. Why'd you put up with Dean?"

Sam shook his head. Christian was right. He didn't understand. And Sam wasn't going to waste his time explaining it.

"Let it go." He said. "It's over."

"No, it's not." Christian shouted. "Dean took away everything from me. He left me a pathetic blind man who can't even take care of himself, let alone hunt and I have no one to take care of me. I thought – I thought that you came back here for me. That you were going to help me, take care of me."

"Why?" Sam asked, genuinely confused.

"Why? Because we are family." Christian replied. "Because I have been like a brother to you."

"You are not my brother, Chris." Sam said. "I already have a brother and his name is Dean. And you – you don't even compare to him. He is all the family I need and want. I'm telling you right now; don't even try to come after Dean. If you do, I'll know about it and then I'll kill you myself."

He should feel guilty, Sam thought as he walked out. He should feel guilty for what Dean had done to Christian. For what he was doing to him right now. But try as he might, he couldn't summon up an ounce of regret. It wasn't like Christian wouldn't have thrown Dean to the wolves if he'd gotten the chance. He'll, he'd already done that. The only thing Sam felt guilty for was ever giving Dean the impression that he'd liked Christian. For ever making Dean think that he thought of Christian as a brother. But he was going to make it up to Dean. As soon as Dean woke up (because there was no question of if, only when) Sam would make it right.

* * *

Bobby put down the newspaper as he heard the Impala pull in. good, he thought, the second idjit was back.

"You forgot your phone." Bobby said as Sam entered, referring to the latter's old number. "Christian left quite a few messages for you. Something about hunting you down for stealing his money."

"We needed the funds." Sam shrugged. "You got a problem with that?"

"Not really." Bobby replied. "Especially now that you can't exactly go hustling."

Bobby pointed to the newspaper lying on the table in reply to Sam's look of askance. Big bold headlines stared back at Sam 'The Pope Declares Supernatural Series As The Winchester Gospel'.

"What the hell?" Sam said, picking up the newspaper.

"Rufus let the cat out of the bag." Bobby explained. "When asked about his questionable involvement with the Winchester criminals, he said and I quote, "You don't know squat about the Winchesters. If you really wanna know, go read the Supernatural books." After that, it was only a matter of time."

"Did he - "

"No. Rufus didn't say anything about what happened after the apocalypse." Bobby replied. "Actually, he didn't say anything else at all. Some reporter snooping around Chuck's house found the unpublished manuscripts."

"Fantastic." Sam said bitterly. "Like our lives weren't already complicated enough."

"I agree. The recent developments have been most unsettling."

The occupants of the room jumped at the sudden intrusion of the angel of the Lord. Castiel, for his part, seemed to be used to such welcome.

"What the hell Cas?" Sam shouted. "Learn to knock."

"I'm sorry. I arrived in a hurry." Castiel explained. "I have been attacked."

"What? By whom? Demons?"

"I do not think so." Castiel said. "In my understanding, the photograph of Jimmy Novak has been published quite widely over the net. I was recognized."

"Bugger." Bobby said, sympathetically. "You got anything for Dean."

"Maybe. I'm not sure."

"Enough with the riddles, Cas." Sam said. "You said you couldn't heal Dean because his body was rejecting your grace. Now, have you found some way to, you know, shove it in him?"

"No. Our only chance lies in convincing Dean to accept my grace and allow it to heal him."

"Jee, Cas." Sam said, sarcastically. "If only Dean was awake and could hear us."

"If you'd let me finish." Castiel replied testily. "I'm trying to tell you that I've found a way to accomplish that. It's a potion made from African dream root and few other things. It'll allow us to go within Dean's mind. We have to go there and convince Dean to come back to us."

"Okay." Sam said. "So, what does this potion entail? Some complicated angel magic?"

"No. The procedure itself is quite simple. There is one problem though." Castiel explained. "Once we get in touch with Dean, our souls would have left our bodies completely. We'd literally be dead. And we wouldn't be able to stay connected to Dean for long. There is a limited time window in which we have to convince Dean to come back. If we fail during that time, we'd never be able to do this spell again and if we do not return by the end, we'd be trapped inside Dean forever."

"So, you are saying it's now or never?" Sam asked.

"Basically, yes."

"So, basically like everything else in my life." Sam replied. "Great then. When do we go?"

* * *

"What the hell?"

Sam looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was in some sort of a motel room. A vaguely familiar one. Before he had the chance to look around for Bobby or Castiel, someone grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean snarled, inches away from his face. "You are not supposed to be here."

"Dean." Sam let out a breath of relief at the sight of his brother. "You are okay. You - "

Air rushed out of Sam's body as Dean punched him in the stomach. Another well-placed punch to the face sent him sprawling to the ground. A moment later, Dean was on top of him, whaling away.

"You are the one who is not supposed to be okay." Dean said, between the punches. "You are supposed to be a blubbering mess. Why are you okay?"

Vaguely, Sam became aware of Bobby and Castiel pulling Dean off him. Dean looked at them in turns, surprised.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"We'll tell you if you stop trying to bash my face in." Sam replied.

"Dean, we have come here to take you back with us." Castiel supplied. "You are trapped inside your own mind and you are rejecting my grace, so I can't heal you."

"Why are you here in the first place?" Dean asked. "Wasn't heaven supposes to seal itself?"

"Heaven has sealed itself." Castiel answered. "No angel or any other living entity can go in or out now."

"And somehow you can?"

"No." Castiel replied. "I did not return to heaven. I stayed behind with some of my brothers on earth. Right now, Joshua is in charge up there."

"Why?"

"Because of you Dean." Castel answered. "I did not wish to leave things like they ended the last time we met. I knew that you would need my help sooner or later."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Cas." Dean said. "But I don't need your help. I'm just fine where I am. And I suppose you were the one who healed Sam here."

"No, you did." Sam replied on Castiel's behalf. "Cas wouldn't know where to begin. But according to Kali, I'm alright because of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.

"Dean, Kali told you something about your soul right?"

"Yeah." Dean replied. "Like it was some sort of cosmic doormat."

"Really? Because that's not what she told me." Sam said. "Your soul is special, Dean. It can make those you love stronger. It can help them heal."

"And what does that have to do with you?"

"You wore me close to your heart for months, Dean." Sam explained. "My soul was close to yours for a long time. That helped me overcome all the damage Lucifer and Michael did to me down there."

"Jesus, I can't do anything right after all." Dean shook his head. "So, what's going on now?"

"What's going on is that you are trapped inside your body." Bobby explained. "After you pulled that suicidal move with the angel ring, you were supposed to be a piece of charcoal. But Kali saved you. She healed you, physically atleast. Something about you being like a devotee and her actually liking you. And she gave you back to us and told us to figure out the rest. Which we are doing right now."

"That bitch." Dean snarled. "I'm gonna kill her."

"Why? Because she saved your life?" Sam asked.

"Because she was supposed to end it all for me." Dean replied. "I don't want to exist anymore, Sam. I just want it all to be over."

"We are not letting you go that easy Dean." Castiel told him. "We are not giving up on you again."

"Why not?"

"Because you would do the same." Sam replied. "You didn't give up on me."

"Are you really that delusional?" Dean laughed. "I gave up on you, Sam, I gave up on you long ago. I didn't give you your soul back because I loved you, I did it because I hated you."

"I don't believe that Dean." Sam said. "Somewhere, deep down, you still love me. Beneath all that hurt and anger, there is still a part of you that cares for me."

"Whatever gets you through the day."

"You can lie to me all you want and you can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to your own soul, Dean." Sam continued. "If you didn't still care about me, I wouldn't be okay right now. I'd be dead or worse."

"Whatever. I don't care." Dean said offhandedly. "You can spew all that love bullshit, bu tit doesn't matter anymore. I'm not coming back with you."

"Dean, please, listen to me." Sam begged. "This isn't what you want. You have never wanted this. Come back to us. I promise I'll make it all up to you. We all will."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna believe a word that comes out of your mouth." Dean said bitterly. "You left me Sam. Betrayed me over and over again. There is nothing for me out there anymore."

"And I'm sorry for that Dean." Sam said. "I wanna make it all up to you."

"You really think you can?"

"Just hear us out, son." Bobby interjected.

"Save it. I know what y'all are gonna say." Dean replied. "You are gonna tell me how family is supposed to be together, be there of each other. You'll tell me I'm being selfish and that I don't realize how much you guys need me out there. And then Cas is going to talk about how he fell for me, gave up everything for my sake and this is not the way he expected me to repay him. And then Sam, you are going to tell me how much you love me, how much you need me out there believing in you to be a better person. And you know what, all that is crap. You all just want me back to be your whipping boy again. Someone to make you feel good about your own screwed up lives. Well, I don't care anymore."

"You are messed up, kid." Bobby said.

"You are messed up." John's voice echoed from behind them.

All three of them turned around in surprise as John Winchester appeared from nowhere amidst them. John, for his part, didn't even seem to notice their presence.

"Go clean yourself up." John ordered Dean. "Then we'll go look for Sam."

"Yes, sir." Dean replied docilely.

"Dean, what - ?" Sam turned around in surprise and noted that Dean now had a split lip, a bruise forming on the cheek and held his are close to his body. "Dean, what is going on?"

"Now, Dean." John shouted. "Seriously, how do you expect to be even a halfway decent hunter when you can't even track a runaway fourteen year-old?"

"This is a memory." Sam realized. "This is the time I ran away from home. Flagstaff. Dean, did Dad do that to you? Did he beat you up because I had run away on your watch?"

"Welcome to my life Sam." Dean shrugged. "It has been one hell of a nightmare."

* * *

"You can't let him go on a hunt alone." Bobby's voice shouted. "He ain't ready for that yet. Probably never will be."

"How else is he gonna learn, Bobby?" John's voice replied.

They were at Bobby's house, all four of them. In this memory, apparently Bobby and John were arguing in the other room about Dean.

"You remember this one, Bobby?" Dean asked, sitting dejected at the table. "This is the one where you threatened to shoot Dad full of buckshot."

"Dean ain't like you or Sam." The other Bobby said. "He ain't strong enough to hunt alone. He's not smart or focused like that."

"Bobby?" Sam said horrified, turning towards the older hunter.

"That is not how it happened." Bobby replied, looking horrified himself. "I never said those things. I was telling John that you had just left and Dean wasn't ready to hunt. I told him that you needed your family, Dean. I was afraid that you'd do something stupid if John left you so soon after Sam had."

"That is not how I remember it." Dean replied.

"Bobby may be right." Castiel interjected. "We of all people should know that memories are subjective."

"What are you saying?" Dean asked him. "That I'm losing my mind?"

"I'm saying that what you remember may not have been what Bobby actually said. Or meant."

Dean glared at them for a moment and then the whole scene shifted. They were in an alleyway now. No one else on the street seemed to notice the two men in the dark. With a shock, Castiel realized that they were himself and Dean. It was the time after Dean had decided to yes to Michael.

"This is what I fell for? I rebelled for this?" The Castiel in the alley shouted at Dean, his words punctuated by thrown punches. "You pathetic waste of space. You are worthless. The only thing you are good is sacrificing your life for the sake of humanity and you can't even do that. I should throw you back to hell. That torture - that is what you deserve."

"No." Castiel shouted and started making his way towards the duo, but Dean interrupted him, ignoring the Castiel beating the life out of him.

"You can't do anything here Cas." He said, between spurts of blood coming out of his mouth. "This is my memory."

"This memory is a lie." Castiel shouted back. "Dean, you have to know - ."

But Castiel was cut off by a change in scenery once more. This time, Sam was alone with Dean in the Impala. They were parked outside a building and Sam could hear loud music coming from an apartment. He frantically looked around for Castiel and Bobby.

"They are around." Dean said in reply to his unasked question. "They are seeing this too."

"Where are we?" Sam asked. "Which memory is this?"

"Of course, you don't know." Dean answered. "We are in Stanford Sam. It's twenty-fourth January, 2003. The time when I stopped trying to call you because I finally figured out that you won't pick-up."

_I'm sorry_, Sam wanted to say. But he knew that it wouldn't matter. No amount of sorries would be enough.

"It's Jessica's birthday." Dean continued. "Well, Jessica's and mine, but only one of them mattered to you. Dad had completely forgotten ofcourse. And I waited for your call the whole day. When you didn't call, I thought I'd drive up here and try to convince you get atleast a drink with me. But you were – busy."

It was his party, Sam realized. The celebration going on upstairs was the surprise party he's arranged for Jess. All his life he'd never done anything more than buy Dean a cupcake and he'd thrown an entire party for a girl he'd just started dating. And all the while Dean had been sitting outside, alone. He hadn't even given his brother a call.

"Dean, I'm sorry." Sam said, finally finding his voice. "I know it's too little and too late, but I'm sorry."

"Like it matters now." Dean replied, turning away.

Sam made to grab his brother's arm, but instead his hands found Dean's throat. He was leaning over Dean's prone form, his hands squeezing the life out of his brother. Surprised, Sam drew back as if he'd just been burned. They were in a motel room again. The honeymoon suite where he'd left Dean, beaten and broken. Memory of what he'd just said rushed back to him, everything about Dean being weak and useless. Everything about almost killing his brother over a demon.

"Dean, stop it." Sam shouted, jumping back.

"You never said you were sorry for this, Sam." Dean said, without getting up. "You never apologized for this."

"Yes I did." Sam replied. "I know it's not enough, but that was the least I could do."

"No, not for this." Dean said. "You said you were sorry for letting out Lucifer. That you were sorry for trusting Ruby and the demon blood. But you never actually apologized what you did to me or said to me."

He hadn't, Sam realized. Somewhere in the myriad of apologies, he'd forgotten the one thing that should have mattered the most to him. To Dean.

"Would it have changed anything?" Sam asked. "I mean, I am sorry, Dean, I really am. But you should have known that, right?"

"It just confirmed what I always thought." Dean replied. "That you believed those words to be true."

"They are not true, Dean Winchester." Castiel said from beside Dean. "You are not weak or worthless."

"Listen to him boy." Bobby had appeared again, right beside Castiel. "These memories, they ain't right. That is not how we see you. You mean so much more to us than you think yourself to."

"Is that right?"

"Dean, please, come back with us." Sam begged. "We won't ask anything of you after this. You can live your life however you want. If you want all of us never to speak to each-other again, we will do it. If you want to leave us all behind, we won't stop you. Just, come back to us, okay?"

"No." Dean replied, steely-eyed and resolved.

"Sam." Castiel said in a warning tone.

Before Sam could respond, the room began to shake. Like an earthquake, but the trembling just kept getting worse.

"Sam, the bond is about to break." Castiel explained. "We have to get out of here, now."

"Screw it." Bobby shouted, frustrated. "Just drag Dean outta here."

No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, the three of them were thrown back against the wall.

"Seriously?" Dean said, casually getting up and sitting down on the bed. "You guys can't do squat here. My mind, remember?"

The trembling was getting worse. Bits of plaster and room fixtures started falling to the ground.

"Sam, we have to go now." Castiel shouted above the roar, dragging Bobby to the door – their way out.

"Not without Dean." Sam shouted back.

"Sam, I didn't tell you about the last part of the spell." Castiel said. "About its true purpose."

"I already know Cas." Sam replied. "I researched the spell."

"Then tell me Sam, do you think you can really serve any purpose by staying behind?" Castiel asked.

Sam looked at his brother once more. Dean was looking at them scornfully, seemingly enjoying their panic. He himself was surprisingly calm for someone whose world was literally falling apart.

"Get lost Sam." Dean said. "I never want to see your ugly mug again."

Dejected, Sam averted his eyes, turning away from his brother.

"No, I don't think I can convince him to get out of here." Sam replied. "Let's go, Cas."

Castiel and Bobby were already beyond the door. As Sam stepped outside, he heard a pained grunt from his brother. A piece of plaster had dislodged from the ceiling and fallen on Dean's shoulder.

"Sam, no." Castiel shouted, but it was already too late. Sam rushed back into the room, slamming the door behind him. He threw himself bodily over his brother, his large frame covering Dean completely.

"What the - ?" Dean started asking.

"It's okay Dean." Sam replied, smiling. "I promised I wasn't gonna leave you again. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere."

Sam ignored Dean's startled silence beneath him. He ignored the room falling apart around him, on him. He ignored it when the plaster turned into bricks and concrete and started crushing him alive. All he was aware of was the fact that he was with Dean again and he wasn't going to leave.

* * *

"AARRRGGHHH." Sam screamed. "Dean, please. Stop."

"Sorry, Sammy." Dean replied. "You missed your chance to get away."

It had been a long time – weeks, months, years – Sam didn't know, since he'd closed the door behind him. And Dean, well, he'd spent the time taking out the years of pent up anger and frustrations on Sam. He was currently strapped to the table with Dean's scalpel cutting him open from chest to stomach.

"Castiel was right." Dean said. "You should have run away the first chance you got. Like always."

"I'm not leaving you again Dean." Sam replied between pants. "I promised."

"And now you are gonna pay for that."

Sam screamed as Dean once more went back to work on him. How long had he been on this table? How long had he been suffering at Dean's hands? Sam had given up on keeping track of time days ago.

"Please, stop it, Dean." Sam begged, crying. Like he had so many times before. "You don't have to keep doing this."

"Don't act like you don't deserve this." Dean replied.

Did he, Sam thought. At first he'd convinced himself he deserved whatever punishment Dean decided to meet out. But he didn't. Not really. And he had the choice of ending it whenever he wanted. He had been going through this for a different reason altogether.

"No, I don't." Sam said to his brother. "I don't deserve all this. I know I haven't been the best brother to you, but I haven't been the worst either. I always loved you, Dean. I'd have died for you. Even when it looked like I didn't, I still cared for you. I don't deserve this from you."

"Don't you dare say that, you son-of-a-bitch." Dean screamed. "I gave you everything. Everything."

"I know. And what I gave back just pales in comparison." Sam replied. "But it wasn't nothing."

"So I'm the bad guy here?" Dean asked. "Because I'm putting you through things you don't deserve."

"No, Dean, you are not the bad guy here." Sam said. "Because you didn't deserve a lot of what you were put through either. You had it bad, Dean, with me and Dad and everything and I wasn't there to help you through it. Like I should have been. But I'm here now."

"You are here because you can't leave without my permission." Dean snarled. "As soon as I let you go, you'll bolt out of here."

"No, I won't, I promise." Sam replied. "But you can't really trust me, can you? So go ahead, Dean. Get it out of you. Let all the anger and rage out, because I can take it."

"A minute ago you were begging me to stop."

"I want you to stop." Sam replied. "But I don't want you to bury that anger either. Not again."

"What is this, Sam?" Dean asked, confused. "Some sort of ploy to get my forgiveness?"

"I don't care about that, anymore." Sam replied. "I don't care about leaving either. All I want is for you to be a little bit like before. For you to be happy. And the only way I can help you do that is like this."

"You are saying you want to be tortured?"

"I'm saying that you want to torture me and that's okay with me."

"Why?"

"Because every moment you spend torturing me," Sam replied. "is a moment you don't torture yourself."

"What?"

"Think about it, Dean." Sam said. "Ever since you started on me, you haven't had a single bad memory from your life. If that's the way it's gonna be, then go right ahead and continue. I'll forgive you anything"

Dean stepped back in shock for a moment. Then his face distorted into a snarl and he jumped back on Sam.

"You bastard." Dean shouted, his thumbs digging into Sam's eyes. "Now you say this? After I spent a lifetime wanting to hear those words from you, till the day I finally gave up. Now that all I care about is hurting you so much that you'll hate my guts, now you say that?"

"I'm sorry." Sam screamed, feeling the hot sticky tears flowing down the sides of his face. Blood, he dimly realized, not tears. "I'm sorry, Dean, I should have done this sooner."

Abruptly, Dean let Sam go. Opening his eyes, Sam realized that he was completely healed. And free from restraints. They were in another motel room once again. Dammit, Sam thought, he should have kept his mouth shut.

"Dean, please, don't start again." Sam said.

"Relax, Sam." Dean replied. "This isn't a bad memory. I brought you here to show something."

"Where are we?" Sam asked, confused.

"In a motel in California." Dean replied. "Near Stanford. It's October, 2005."

Sam looked around and saw a calendar on the wall that verified Dean's statement.

"I wanted to show you these." Dean said, throwing a bunch of papers at Sam.

They looked like – research. They were weather maps of areas near Stanford, showing some sort of disturbances.

"What is this?"

"Electrical storms. Omens. Signs of demonic activity." Dean replied. "I was here working up the nerve to ask you for help and I decided to check out the area for any unusual activity."

"What are you trying to tell me, Dean?" Sam asked, still confused.

"That I knew something was wrong here before I came to get you." Dean explained. "I knew and still I dragged you away from Jessica. I knew that if I told you that there was danger in the area, you would never agree to leave Jessica unprotected. You'd never come with me. So, I didn't tell you and that got her killed."

Sam's mind reeled at the revelation. Suddenly he found himself feeling weak in the knees and fell back on the bed. Dean knew. Dean knew that the demon was coming and he didn't tell Sam. Maybe not directly, but in a way Dean had caused her death as well.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"What about now, Sam?" Dean smiled mirthlessly. "Do you still love me now? Would you still go through hell for me, knowing what I let happen to the one person that mattered most to you? Would you still forgive me anything?"

Dean wanted Sam to hate him, Sam realized. Not just that, he needed it. He needed it because otherwise, the shell he'd built for himself would come crumbling down. Dean had shut himself away from everyone, locking himself away in eternal torment and misery, because he was afraid. He was afraid that if he let the guard down even for a moment, if he let Sam back in, he'd be hurt again. And he knew, as did Sam, that Dean would never recover from that. Not again.

"Dean, it doesn't matter now." Sam told his brother. "If you are looking for forgiveness, I forgive you."

"What?" Now Dean was confused.

"Jess isn't the most important person in my life anymore, you are." Sam continued. "I'm not gonna leave you over a memory of her. And even if she was here, even if all of them, Jess, Mom, Dad, Bobby and the whole Campbell clan, if they were on one side and you on another, I'd pick you. I told you Dean, I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere."

"Jesus. And they call me pathetic." Dean said, angrily. "Fine. You get your wish. I forgive you."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I forgive you. I'm giving you permission to get the hell out of here." Dean said. "Go ahead. Summon a door. Get out. Tell Bobby and Castiel that I forgive them too. Go live your life, Sam."

Dean looked expectantly at the wall to see if a door appeared there. It didn't.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Sam said. "I'm not leaving you. You are stuck with me."

"C'mon, Sam. I'd have killed you if I could." Dean said.

"You could, Dean. You can kill me any time you want." Sam replied. "You didn't want to."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the thing Cas was talking about when he left." Sam explained. "The real purpose of this spell is to bind souls. My soul became subservient to yours the moment I decided to stay."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you hold my life now." Sam said. "You can get us out of here if you want, but even after that, you'd hold power over my soul. Basically, you can kill me with just a thought."

"Jesus, Sam." Dean shouted. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because I didn't want you to kill me."

"That would have been more merciful." Dean said.

"Yes, but then you'd be alone." Sam replied. "Besides, Dean, your knowing didn't matter. If, during all this time, you really wanted to kill me, I'd be dead. You never wanted me dead Dean, you just wanted me to care about you like you did."

Dean pushed himself away from his brother and turned towards the wall. With nothing else to do, Sam looked at the maps in his hands once more. Something clicked in his mind as he saw the lower corner of the photograph.

"And you just lied to me." Sam said. "This map is dated 31st October, the day you came to get me. No way you got these on the same day as they were taken. This isn't before Jess died, it's after, when we were researching what could have killed her." The calendar on the wall mustn't have been changed. "Jesus, Dean, why would you try so hard to push me away?"

"Because I can't trust you." Dean replied. "I'm tired, Sam. I'm tired of hating you. Of being angry. I want to trust you again. I want to love you like I once did. But - ."

"But you are afraid of getting hurt again." Sam finished. "I'd say that you hold my life with you, but we both know that that's not gonna matter. You'd never use that against me."

"So here we are then." Dean said.

"I know you don't trust me." Sam said. "I know I don't deserve it either. But I'm willing to work for it. And I get that you might never trust me again ever, that you might spend the rest of our lives keeping an eye on the door waiting for me to leave, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from trying. We don't have to go back. We can stay here Dean, together, forever. Here or out there, with me or without me, I just don't want you to be miserable and lonely."

Silence reigned in the room for few minutes as Dean thought over Sam's words. Finally, Sam was at the place Dean had been all his life. It had been a miserable place, but there had been something else there too. Dean's mind went back to the words his other self had thrown at him all those months ago. He was never going to be happy. That was not his fate, but the way he was now, atleast he wouldn't get hurt anymore. But what if he could be happy? What if he did let Sam back into his life and his heart and it turned out to be better than he could imagine. Sam was certainly promising that. Dean looked up hopefully, but at the sight before him, his heart sank.

"You are going to leave." Dean said, dejected.

"No, I'm not." Sam replied.

"Yes, you are." Dean jerked his head towards the side. Sam followed his eyes to the wall and saw a door standing there. Their way back out.

"Dean, I didn't bring this here." Sam told his brother.

"C'mon, Sam. You are the only one here." Dean replied. "Who else could have brought this?"

"You, Dean. You summoned it." Sam answered. "Don't you get it, Dean? You are finally ready to get out of here. To make a fresh start. You want to live again."

Did he? He was certainly hopeful. He wanted a better life. And this, trapped in his own memories, like heaven only much less nice, wasn't being alive. If he went out, he could start over. Begin a new life with Sam.

"I'm not sure Sam." Dean said. Suddenly he was terrified at the prospects opening before him. "I'm not sure what will happen when I get out."

Dean felt his brother stand beside him. Sam took Dean's hand into his own and gripped it firmly.

"Don't worry, Dean." Sam said reassuringly. "I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you."

* * *

The first thing that registered in Sam's mind as he groggily made his way back to consciousness was Castiel standing between his and Dean's beds. Second thing was Bobby sitting at the foot of his, looking worried. Third was the fact that he felt incredibly hungry.

"Unhh. How long?" He asked Castiel.

"Almost a month." Castiel replied.

A month? He had been inside Dean for a month? They must have built a church in their name by now. Sam shot up from his bed and ripped out the IV fluids that were undoubtedly keeping him alive. He looked over at Dean's bed to see his brother was already awake, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. Sam rushed to his side immediately.

"Sam?" Dean said, still a bit out of it. "I feel tired. Really tired."

"It's okay Dean." Sam said. "Just rest. After you have eaten something. You need to get your health back on track again."

Contradicting his own instruction, Sam gently slid his arms under his brothers and behind his back, lifting Dean and enveloping him in a hug.

"You can rest all you want." He said, rubbing soothing circles on his brother's back. "We got no place to be. We can do whatever we want now."

Sam was aware of Dean weakly trying to return his hug. His brother was not back to his full strength yet. Two months of starvation would do that to you.

"Guys. Bobby. Cas." Dean said, softly, to everyone in the room. "I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

"You have nothing to apologize for Dean." Castiel replied.

"He's right, son." Bobby added. "You just focus on taking care of yourself."

Sam felt Dean relax against him. They would feed him later. Soon, though. They would stuff him full of his favorite burgers and pies and then they were going to find the softest bed for him to sleep in. But not just yet. For now, Sam was going to revel in the moment of getting his brother back.

* * *

Alright. All done. This was the final chapter of this story. Now I can finally start on the new idea I have been so hung up upon. I hope you all liked this one. Tell me, please.


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